Mergers and Acquisitions in Software Security Investment Dynamics

The software security sector continues to show vibrant M&A activity, with big companies like Hewlett-Packard trying to become a one-stop shop for all of their customers security testing products. The company raised just under $40 million from a number of venture firms. Last summer, International Business Machines Corp. acquired Fortify competitor Ounce Labs Inc., which also offers software for testing applications for security holes. The value of security deals so far this year is up to $5.4 billion through June, compared with just $3.7 billion for the same period in 2007, according to tech research firm 451 Group.

Venture capitalist Jeremy Liew had a hit on his hands with Playdom, the social-gaming company that sold two weeks ago to Walt Disney. Now the partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners believes another one of his social-gaming portfolio companies, RockYou, is a prime candidate for an acquisition. And why not? Rockyou

The link for this article located at Wall Street Journal is no longer available.