DNV in $107 million acquisition of Nixu cybersecurity specialist

Nixu CEO Teemu Salmi: “With more than 500 cybersecurity professionals and expertise across multiple disciplines, we are creating a leading European cybersecurity services business.”

DNV, which has had its own unfortunate experiences in the area, is to get into the cybersecurity business big time. In a EUR 98 million (about $107 million) deal it is to fully acquire Helsinki-headquartered cyber specialist Nixu and will combine it with its own cybersecurity business to create what, it says, will be one of Europe’s fastest growing cybersecurity services businesses.

DNV has taken ownership of more than 93% of Nixu’s shares a public tender offer. It will combine the Nixu and DNV cybersecurity businesses after a process to acquire the remaining Nixu shares and de-list the company from the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange.

“In this decade of transformations, fulfilling our purpose of safeguarding life, property, and the environment is no longer restricted to managing risk for physical systems – it must now cover many distributed and interlinked cyber-physical systems,” said Remi Eriksen, group president and CEO, DNV. “By joining forces with Nixu we will make cyberspace a more secure place with even greater impact than either company could achieve alone. Together, we will shape the future through cybersecurity, enabling more than 100,000 customers, their systems and their supply chains to manage emerging risks.”

Nixu CEO Teemu Salmi will lead the combined business, bringing together specialistss from DNV, Nixu and Applied Risk – an industrial cybersecurity specialist acquired by DNV in 2021 – into one business. The combined business will operate across Europe from hubs in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and Romania with focus on rapid organic growth and further strategic acquisitions and partnerships globally.

“This is an exciting time. With more than 500 cybersecurity professionals and expertise across multiple disciplines, we are creating a leading European cybersecurity services business,” said Salmi. “We have the scale to bring even greater value to our customers and be an exceptional place to work for cybersecurity professionals. DNV and Nixu will not only join forces with each other, we will work in partnership with our customers and the security community at large to drive innovation and industry best practice to ensure business resilience and safeguard society.

DNV has begun a subsequent tender offer period, inviting holders of remaining shares in Nixu to tender their shares by 16:00 EET on June 26, 2023. DNV has initiated the process to acquire all remaining minority shares in Nixu in accordance with the Finnish Companies Act, before applying to de-list Nixu from the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange.