NCC Group, a provider of escrow and assurance services, has acquired US-based security research and testing services provider Matasano Security for up to £8.4m.
Matasano has a number of blue chip clients in software, IT, internet and financial services. It provides a range of services to detect security flaws in applications, systems and networks, using penetration testing, reverse engineering and source code review techniques.
In the year to 30 June 2012 Matasano had revenues of $5m. The acquisition will "substantially increase" NCC's presence in New York and Chicago, and will further enable the company to provide customers with one stop testing services across US and Europe, said the company.
Rob Cotton, NCC Group chief executive, said: "Matasano is a key strategic acquisition for us. It substantially increases our presence and profile in the US, particularly within the important east coast market, considerably widening our capabilities and industry IP, and bringing in a number of leading blue chip technology customers."
The purchase of Matasano is NCC's eighth in the network testing and software security space and the second in North America.
NCC Group experienced problems with its failed SAP system implementation from the very beginning of the project, the company indicated in its preliminary full-year results. Two months ago the firm revealed that it was forced to revert to an old, group-wide IT system from Sage.