Merger alert: ‘Shark Tank’ star teams with Gary Fish, Fishtech to form new cybersecurity powerhouse

A merger announced today between award-winning cybersecurity solutions providers Fishtech Group  and Herjavec Group will unite the companies as a single entity under a new brand to be announced in early 2022. 

The deal — backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (The Apax Funds), which will hold a majority stake in the new company — maintains significant equity in the new business for Robert Herjavec, founder and CEO of Herjavec Group and star of ABC’s Emmy award winning ratings giant “Shark Tank,” and Gary Fish, founder and CEO of Fishtech Group, based in Martin City.

“We could not be more thrilled to join forces with industry pioneer Gary Fish, whom I have known for decades,” said Herjavec. “We are very impressed by Fishtech’s MDR offerings and its proprietary platform built on Google Chronicle, which we consider highly differentiated. Jointly, we want to double down on the investment behind this market-leading solution and strengthen what are already deep partnerships. Having built one of the strongest tech teams in the industry and a leading portfolio of services, our customers will benefit from enhanced operations, getting stronger as we help accelerate their digital transformation.”

Herjavec will serve as CEO of the combined entity. Fish will serve as chairman of the board. They will actively work to continue their track record of customer-focused success. The financial terms of the transaction (which is subject to applicable regulatory approvals) are not disclosed.

At the time of the merger, the new organization brings together more than 600 security professionals operating out of six security operations centers (SOCs): Kansas City, Toronto, London, Ottawa, Arkansas, and Bangalore. The combined company will have one of the largest managed security engineering teams under one roof — entirely dedicated to delivering innovative solutions to enterprise clients, the companies said.

Fishtech was named one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2020. It is a leading current-generation service provider enabling secure business transformation. Founded and led by serial entrepreneur and exited founder Fish, Fishtech Group includes the Security-as-a-Service division CYDERES (Cyber Defense and Response). 

Click here to learn more about Fishtech Group.

The newly announced deal brings together the complementary strengths of both Fishtech and Herjavec groups, resulting in an industry powerhouse with a broad, holistic suite of best-in-class managed detection and response capabilities (MDR), professional services, and identity offerings with a global perspective to address enterprise customers’ increasingly complex information security needs, the companies said.

Joining the forces of Herjavec, a market leader in cloud and tech-enabled co-managed SIEM, with Fishtech, a market leader in enterprise MDR, will allow the new company to provide customers with unparalleled security and cloud expertise, driving security maturity as a competitive differentiator via advanced technology and services across the industry landscape, they said.

Founded in 2003 and acquired by the Apax Funds in February 2021, Herjavec has been recognized as one of the world’s most innovative cybersecurity firms and is currently ranked as the #1 MSSP in the world (Cyber Defense Magazine 2021 Top 100 MSSPs List). Fishtech was founded in 2016 to bring security to the cloud while identifying vulnerabilities and introducing next-generation solutions to help organizations minimize risk.

“We’re exceptionally proud of our results to date and even more excited about the growth to come,” said Fish. “We’re honored that so many organizations trust Fishtech to be their managed solutions provider. With complementary offerings from Herjavec, we will transform the security industry globally.”  

The Apax Funds, in partnership with the newly formed company’s management team, will help build on the companies’ impressive growth rates to date by enhancing international expansion efforts, continuing to invest behind differentiated technology and augmenting the talented team with additional threat intelligence and identity resources, the companies said.