Israeli cybersecurity firm Varonis Systems to be bought by Proofpoint in $6.3 billion deal

Deal expected to close in first half of 2027; co-founder and CEO: ‘Our mission is to secure AI and the data that powers it’

Thoma Bravo-owned cybersecurity company Proofpoint will buy data security firm Varonis Systems in an all-cash deal valued at about $6.3 billion, the companies said on Thursday.

Under the agreement, Varonis shareholders will receive $49.75 per share in cash, a 52 percent premium to the company’s closing share price on June 22, the day before speculation about a possible sale first emerged, the companies said.

The offer values Varonis’ equity at $5.71 billion. Its shares rose about 2.7% in extended trading.

The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2027, comes as businesses ramp up spending on cybersecurity to combat cybercrime, where AI is increasingly being used to steal data.

Varonis, which is traded on the NASDAQ, offers digital security services, including data classification on cloud storage systems and employee behavior tracking.

“Our mission is to secure AI and the data that powers it. By joining forces with Proofpoint, we can achieve this mission faster than ever,” Varonis co-founder and CEO Yaki Faitelson said.

File – Pedestrians walk past the Nasdaq building Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

According to Channel 12 news, Varonis has approximately 2,800 employees, with some 1,000 of them in Israel.

The company was founded in 2004 and was an early example of firms that used AI to detect cyber threats, Globes said.

The announced deal is the second large sale of an Israeli cybersecurity firm in recent months — in February, Palo Alto Networks, a Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity firm founded by American-Israeli entrepreneur Nir Zuk, completed its acquisition of Israeli firm CyberArk in a deal valued at a staggering $25 billion.

It marked the biggest ever acquisition of an Israeli company after Google’s $32 billion purchase of Israeli-founded cybersecurity unicorn Wiz in 2025. The third-largest deal was US giant Intel Corp’s purchase of Mobileye, a Jerusalem-based developer of advanced vision and driver assistance systems, for $15.3 billion in 2017.

The cybersecurity market continues to face new challenges with the fast emergence and adoption of AI-powered tools and software by businesses and organizations, which in turn has expanded their threat landscape and attack surface.