Zix, which develops email security, backup, disaster recovery and cloud services for MSPs, has hired Citigroup to explore a potential company sale, Reuters reported.
Zix and Citigroup declined to comment for that report, and there's no guarantee that an actual Zix company sale will occur, the report said.
Amid the M&A speculation, Zix stock ($ZIXI) rose 9 percent in pre-market training ahead of Wall Street's open on October 19, 2021. Zix's market capitalization is $421 million, according to SeekingAlpha.
Zix Revenues, Valuation and MSP Partner Ecosystem
Zix is expected to announce Q3 earnings results on November 8, 2021. In the previous quarter, Zix revenues rose 18 percent to $62.8 million in Q2 of 2021 compared to Q2 of 2020, the company said in August 2021.
Zix has engaged MSP partners since acquiring AppRiver in February 2019. The company had roughly 5,600 partners as of August 2021.
Through the Zix Secure Cloud Platform, MSPs and customers can leverage a single portal for Microsoft 365 licensing, third-party security and compliance, BDR and email continuity capabilities.
The integrated cloud licensing capabilities surface roughly one year after Zix acquired CloudAlly, a BDR service that protects Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and other platforms. The net result: Zix essentially competes in the cyber resilience market.
Data Protection Plus Security Equals Cyber Resilience for MSPs
Zix certainly isn't alone in the cyber resilience market. Multiple rivals have made moves to converge data protection and cybersecurity. A few examples:
- Acronis has pivoted from traditional backup to cyber protection, and will tout new milestones during the #CyberFit 2021 conference in late October 2021.
- OpenText acquired Carbonite and Webroot in 2019, and announced an MDR (managed detection and response) partnership with Blackpoint Cyber.
- MSP platform providers Barracuda, ConnectWise, Datto, Kaseya, N-able and NinjaRMM all have some form of backup and/or cybersecurity technology under ownership.
In some ways, the Zix portal also competes with distributors and cloud solutions providers such as Pax8 and Sherweb.
We'll be watching to see if MSP software platform providers and/or private equity firms step forward to bid on Zix.
