New Zealand's Bastion Security Group to acquire Melbourne’s Cythera Cyber Security

New-Zealand-headquartered Bastion Security Group has signed an agreement to acquire Melbourne-headquartered cyber security managed services provider Cythera.

The transaction, terms of which weren’t disclosed, is expected to complete before 31 December 2024.

The combined group will have more than 150 cybersecurity professionals in Australia and New Zealand and more than 400 clients across Australia and New Zealand, according to a Bastion Security Group announcement.

The deal will enable provision of managed security services to Bastion’s new and existing customers in New Zealand, whilst “accelerating Cythera’s Australian growth aspirations across both professional and managed security services.”

The group’s capability will include span governance, risk and compliance, penetration testing, cloud and network security, cyber strategy advisory services, threat intelligence and managed security services, the announcement stated.

Cythera was established in 2018 by Euan Prentice, Craig Joyce, Tim Sank and Ben Cuthbert. It provides 24/7 managed cyber protection, threat detection and rapid incident response via an in-house security operations centre.

Bastion Security Group combines leadership from Quantum Security, ZX Security, Helix Security and Cassini. Bastioned announced the purchase of Cassini in 2023.

In March 2023, Quadrant Private Equity announced it had invested in three security companies in New Zealand: Quantum Security Services, ZX Security, Helix Security Services.

In the announcement about the Cythera acquisition, Bastion Founder and CEO Eugene Gibney said  the partnership “strengthens our service offering in New Zealand and expands our presence into Australia.”

Cythera offers market leading managed security services and, like Bastion, has a laser focus on delivering cybersecurity solutions that protect our customers.”

Gibney also talked up the two companies’ cultural fit.

Cythera co-founder Euan Prentice commented: “As the number and complexity of cyber threats continue to rise across both Australia and New Zealand, the ability to provide a full-service cybersecurity offering to the Group’s customers is increasingly important.”

Prentice will join the Bastion board of directors.