Telstra’s outgoing chief executive Andy Penn has an extra reason to smile as he counts down the days to his retirement on September 1.
The telco’s venture capital arm has offloaded one of its key investments – mobile security company Zimperium – to Liberty Strategic Capital, the private equity firm founded and led by former US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Liberty has secured a controlling interest in the company for $US525m ($713.70m). Zimperium won a US Defence Department contract in 2020 to protect the mobile devices of all US troops.
The deal ends Telstra Ventures’ association with the company, but SoftBank, which acquired a stake in 2017, will remain a minority investor.
TV is keeping mum on exactly how much it has gained, but it was one of the early investors in Zimperium, founded in 2010.
In 2015, it led a Series B round of about $US12m to fuel the company’s expansion and “technical innovation in the fight against cybercrime”.
“An investment in Zimperium represents an opportunity for Telstra to acquire a stake in an emerging company with a unique solution to the problem of advanced cyber-security attacks on mobile devices,” said Mark Sherman, managing director of Telstra Ventures at the time.
It comes as TV – which began with $40m from Telstra’s balance sheet before being spun off into a independent fund three years ago – marked its 10-year anniversary. In that time it has secured more than 85 investments, 16 of which have hit “unicorn” status: a $1bn valuation.
“Telstra Ventures has been a key part of our continued network and technology leadership,” Penn said last month.
JPMorgan acted as exclusive financial adviser to Zimperium, while Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe provided legal counsel. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison provided legal counsel to Liberty Strategic Capital. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter.
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