TPG (Nasdaq: TPG), a global alternative asset management firm, has finalized its acquisition of Forcepoint’s government-focused cybersecurity unit from investment firm Francisco Partners and appointed technology industry leader Sean Berg as CEO of the newly acquired business.
Berg, most recently president of global governments and critical infrastructure cybersecurity segment at Forcepoint, will oversee the growth strategy and expansion efforts as chief executive of Forcepoint G2CI, the companies said in a joint release published Monday.
“For more than 20 years, Forcepoint G2CI has worked to solve government’s most complex challenges – mitigating the risk posed by insiders, enabling remote work, facilitating data sharing in classified environments and securing our nation’s critical infrastructure,” said Berg.
“As the cybersecurity landscape grows even more complex for public sector organizations worldwide, particularly in the emerging AI era, partnering with TPG positions us to continue to meet our customers’ needs, both now and in the future,” he added.
Peter Leav, an industry executive who most recently served as president and CEO of McAfee, will serve as executive chairman of Forcepoint G2CI’s board of directors.
In July, TPG agreed to acquire a majority stake in Forcepoint G2CI for approximately $2.45 billion. The San Francisco-based asset management firm made the purchase through its private equity platform TPG Capital.
With the transaction’s completion, G2CI will separate from Forcepoint’s commercial segment to operate as an independent company focused on delivering cybersecurity platforms to defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure sectors.
Citi and Barclays served as financial advisers to Francisco Partners and Forcepoint in the transaction and Paul Hastings acted as legal adviser to both firms.
Piper Sandler advised TPG on the deal’s financial aspect and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsel to the firm.
Franciso Partners, which acquired Forcepoint from Raytheon Technologies in 2021, will continue to own and operate the Austin, Texas-based software company’s commercial arm while keeping a minority stake in G2CI.
In 2016, Raytheon, now known as RTX (NYSE: RTX), launched Forcepoint as a cybersecurity joint venture to help government agencies and private businesses secure their networks from internal and external threats.
