Capgemini expands US footprint with Leidos Cyber acquisition
French digital consultancy Capgemini has expanded its US footprint with the acquisition of Leidos Cyber. No terms have been disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2018, subject to Committee of Foreign Investment approval.
Leidos Cyber is the commercial cybersecurity arm of Virginia-headquartered engineering, defense, and IT company Leidos. The Fortune 500 firm set up Leidos Cyber more than 10 years ago and the subsidiary has since established a hugely successful track record in the cybersecurity space. Chiefly based in the US, Leidos Cyber commands a small army of almost 500 cybersecurity experts across various locations.
Digital consulting giant Capgemini boasts a headcount of more than 200,000 professionals across 40 countries. Headquartered in Paris, it has a growing presence in the US – the world’s largest consulting market – and global revenues approaching $15 billion. The consulting firm – which has dozens of US offices from Austin to Phoenix – recently won a lucrative digital transformation contract with the State of Texas.
“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, Capgemini CEO.
“Its world class security expertise and status as a trusted advisor to many Fortune 500 leaders makes it totally complementary to Capgemini’s global cybersecurity practice. It is the perfect fit to reinforce our cybersecurity practice in North America, to help meet the security requirements of our international client base.”
“Capgemini’s well-established security services portfolio coupled with its global presence makes it a natural home for our commercial cybersecurity team,” said Robert Meindl, President, Leidos Cyber. “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.”
The acquisition underlines broader trends in the increasingly complex cybersecurity advisory game. Leidos itself recently acquired the Information Systems and Global Solutions practice at Lockheed Martin. The firm is one of many Virginia and Greater Washington-based defense contractors seeking to divest their commercial operations to focus exclusively on the national security branch of IT advisory services.
In the private sphere there is plenty of scope for digital consultancies to expand, as Capgemini’s ambition shows. A recent study from KPMG found that US executives were the most fearful of a cyberattack damaging their organizations and now consider the protection of customer data to be a ‘top personal priority’.
