African PE firm buys stake in Slovakia-based ESET

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Pan-African ICT private equity firm Convergence Partners has bought a minority stake in ESET East Africa, a regional cybersecurity company.

Convergence Partners signed the deal with ESRO Limited, ESET East Africa’s parent company, last week in Cape Town during the AfricaCom tech conference. The new deal gives Convergence Partners an opportunity for growth in the region.

The deal also enables Eset East Africa to establish a pan-African presence, given their recent entry into the regional market. The Slovakia-based IT security firm Eset formally unveiled its Nairobi office last year.

The company said it could not discuss the specifics of the contract due to clauses in the contract.

“In the emerging native cloud environment coupled with edge computing, data is becoming more vulnerable and we have witnessed increased vulnerability of public and private data repositories to cyber threats and attacks. Cyber security solutions like that offered by ESET are a critical line of defense. We are excited to partner with ESET on this journey,” said the founder and chairman of Convergence Partners, Andile Ngcaba.

ESET’s security software products are used by more than 100 million people and institutions in about 180 countries.

Tech firm has more than 1,000 employees worldwide. Locally the cybersecurity firm supplies Internet security software and anti-virus solutions for businesses in various sectors including finance and banking, healthcare, education as well as the public sector.

“We’re delighted to welcome Convergence Partners as key new shareholders to our business. With a strong emphasis on channel and relationships, we share a vision on growing local cybersecurity skills in Kenya and together will further develop the ESET brand and distribution opportunities in East Africa.

In particular, their portfolio of investments in telecoms and value-added services offer an important distribution vector for us in these countries,” said director of ESRO Ltd, Alistair Freeman.

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