SimpliSafe, the company behind the SimpliSafe home security service, announced today that Hellman & Friedman, the venture capital and private equity fund, has taken the control of society. Although the two companies did not disclose the terms of the transaction, sources close to SimpliSafe tell us that the transaction valued the company at about $ 1 billion.
Hellman & Friedman also currently own a number of other brands. ranging from Grocery Outlet to Applied Systems insurance software specialist (and who owned companies like Getty Images, Scout24 and others in the past).
Prior to today's announcement, SimpliSafe had raised approximately $ 57 million, primarily through a round of financing led by Sequoia Capital in 2014. The agreement is expected to be reached in the third quarter of 2018, "subject to the waiting period provided by the RSS Act and other customary closing conditions. This acquisition will not result in any change in the management of the company.
Hellman & Friedman have already completed a number of transactions involving investments, acquisition and acquisition of control (sometimes as part of a syndicate) in companies such as DoubleClick, Nielsen, Nasdaq, OpenLink and others. Today's transaction is consistent with the group's general trend of acquiring similar companies and reselling them at a later date with a profit – or to direct them to an IPO.
For SimpliSafe, the news is on the heels of the launch of its hardware platform updated in February. But this happens so soon after Amazon has closed its acquisition of Ring, which also does not offer its own security system, and the launch of Nest's home security system. SimpliSafe says that it currently protects more than two million people, but if there are now more players in the market, it is still a market with a lot of growth potential. "Home security is at an inflection point.In spite of market growth, today only 20% of homes are protected," notes SimpliSafe CEO Chad Laurans. Today's announcement