Secarma makes investment in Shearwater

 Security player Secarma has taken a 13.3% stake in Shearwater Group in a deal worth £7.4m after selling the firm its Pentest subsidiary.

The assets that have been sold to Shearwater include the Databridge Software Division, which owns and operates a cloud-based platform-as-a-service software package.

Secarma is owned by UKFast founder and CEO Lawrence Jones and that business will continue to employ a team of 40 focused on penetration testing.

“Secarma continues to go from strength to strength and we have laser focus on the direction we want to take the business," said Jones. “Two decades’ experience building and supporting cloud platforms with UKFast, and working closely with customers, has given us clear insight into their needs. Our fast-growing cloud security division is where we’re focussing our attention."

“We're building out some really innovative recurring revenue products to give peace of mind to our customers," he added.

Secarma works closely with UKFast helping the hosting firm improve its security and Jones said that it was increasing its activity across both businesses.

“Within UKFast, we’re developing our Security Operations Centre, our Threat Monitoring service and just this week we announced a £4m investment in our global DDoS protection network, DDoSX. These products sit incredibly well alongside Secarma’s cloud security division," he said.

Shearwater has been extending its reach in the last eighteen months after it acquired Brookcourt Solutions last summer and then formed a partnership with insurance player Moorhouse a couple of months ago.

Shearwater Group chairman David Williams said that the two firms had a long standing relationship and had collaborated on numerous projects.

"Secarma is going to be a meaningful shareholder in Shearwater Group and we're looking forward to working closely together for the benefit of all parties," he said.