Capgemini To Grow Cybersecurity Offerings With Leidos Cyber Acquisition

Capgemini is buying the cybersecurity arm of defense company Leidos in a move that will boost the French business consulting firm's presence in North America.

Leidos Cyber -- the security division of the Fortune 500 defense contractor Leidos Holdings -- is made up of nearly 500 cybersecurity professionals located across North America. According to a press release, Leidos Cyber provides enterprise clients with "a holistic platform" that services an entire security architecture, including integrated offerings for security combined with managed security services.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"Leidos Cyber is a pioneer in the field of cybersecurity. It defined the market in protecting the industrial control ecosystem for the mission critical infrastructure needs of global enterprises," said Paul Hermelin, chairman and CEO of Capgemini. "It is the perfect fit to reinforce our cybersecurity practice in North America, to help meet the security requirements of our international client base. I look forward to welcoming them to the Group."

Leidos, a defense firm headquartered in Reston, Va., provides IT services, and systems integration, to large government clients such as the NSA, Department of Defense, as well as Homeland Security. Leidos said the security unit was positioned to capture a broader commercial market outside the company’s core customers in government and other highly regulated industries.

’Cyber remains one of Leidos’ core competencies and, as such, we remain committed to developing and deploying the best cyber solutions in support of our customers’ IT needs,’ Angie Heise, Group President, Leidos Civil Group said in a statement to CRN. ’We will continue to invest in cyber for these markets and retain approximately 1,500 cyber professionals focused on this mission.’

Heise said Capgemini's commitment to engaging a broad set of commercial markets makes it an ideal fit for the Leidos Cyber business.

Capgemeni declined to comment.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to anti-trust and Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Capgemeni expects the deal to close by the end of this year.

Capgemini -- No. 4 on the 2018 CRN SP 500 – works in consulting, technology services and digital transformation. It does business in 40 countries and reported revenues of 12.8 billion euro in 2017.

Leidos Cyber’s chief said the deal will open their security offerings up to a global market.

"Capgemini's well-established security services portfolio coupled with its global presence makes it a natural home for our commercial cybersecurity team," Robert Meindl, President, Leidos Cyber said in a statement. "Not only will we be able to play our part in augmenting the North America cybersecurity practice but we also look forward to adding value to the global security provisions of Capgemini's clients around the world."