Identity access management has a new price: $6.9 billion

That's what Thoma Bravo is paying for SailPoint in a mid-pandemic market

A $6.9 billion acquisition is putting a hard number on the value of Identity and Access Management (IAM). 

The nearly $7 billion purchase was made by tech private equity firm Thoma Bravo for Texas-based enterprise IAM company SailPoint, whose software portfolio includes AI-powered wares designed to detect irregularities that could signal intrusion.

IAM software adds an additional layer of security over traditional passwords and multi-factor authentication. At its core is limiting access to network resources and only providing access to employees who need it--and only when needed.

Software like that from SailPoint determines what sort of behavior is suspicious, getting rid of the need for IT to spend time resetting passwords and granting granular access to networks. 

Thoma Bravo is no stranger to the cybersecurity game. The investors led SailPoint's first fundraise in 2014, and also has current investments in McAfee, Sophos, Barracuda and more. Thoma Bravo acquired Proofpoint in 2021 for $12.3 billion and took it private, a strategy that will be echoed with SailPoint. 

If the sale closes it will likely do so in the second half of 2022, Thoma Bravo said. Upon closing, SailPoint will be considered a privately held company and won't be listed on any public stock exchange. Stockholders will receive $65.25 per share, which Thoma Bravo said represents "a premium of 48 percent to SailPoint's 90-day volume-weighted average price."

Since today's announcement, SailPoint stock increased nearly 30 percent in pre-market trading and could soon exceed the $65.25 price point. 

Identity and access management is notoriously difficult to implement, requiring visibility into every bit of a network, connectivity with each business app and a well-trained team that is capable of managing it. 

As an increasing number of businesses settle into the reality that remote work isn't going away despite the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IAM will become increasingly important, as SailPoint CEO and founder Mark McClain sees it. 

"Identity security is core to cyber security and businesses have realized that to fuel business growth and success, they must start with identity as the foundation for secure business transformation," McClain said. 

Recently published research predicts the IAM market will grow to $10.05 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.67 percent. ®