Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc , one of last year's hottest IPOs, has acquired Mandiant Corp, the computer forensics specialist best known for unveiling a secretive Chinese military unit believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks on U.S. companies. The $1.05 billion cash-and-stock deal, which FireEye said closed on Monday, unites two companies with relatively new technologies for thwarting cyber attacks, and brings together two of the most-respected executives in the security industry: FireEye CEO Dave DeWalt and Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia.While sales of older anti-virus products have been on the decline, security experts expect strong growth in both FireEye's cloud-based systems for detecting malicious software and Mandiant's software that analyzes cyber attacks.About a year ago the two companies entered into a technology development agreement that made it easier to deploy their products together. With the merger, FireEye will gain Mandiant's team of forensics investigators."They have these very strong Navy 'cyber' Seals who respond to breaches and are very good at what they do," DeWalt said about Mandiant. He had previously served as chairman of Mandiant's board.
FireEye, Inc. invented a purpose-built, virtual machine-based security platform that provides real-time protection to enterprises and governments worldwide against the next generation of cyber attacks. Shares of FEYE fell by 5.66% or $-2.47/share to $41.14. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $33.30 and as high as $44.89. On average, 487511 shares of FEYE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 746557.
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