BOSTON & PORTSMOUTH, England–(BUSINESS WIRE)–D.A. Davidson & Co. announced today that it has served as exclusive financial and strategic advisor to Searchlight Cyber (“Searchlight” or the “Company”), a U.K.-based dark web intelligence company on its strategic growth investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners (“Charlesbank”), a middle-market private investment firm based in Boston and New York.
Used by enterprise cybersecurity, managed security service providers, and government and law enforcement customers across Europe and North America, Searchlight’s platform provides mission-critical dark web intelligence to meet a core need: helping customers both identify and prevent cybercrime. The platform leverages a highly differentiated dataset spanning marketplaces, forums, and hidden sites and is built on a foundation of more than 15 years of leading academic research in dark web technologies. Since it was founded in 2017, Searchlight has supported some of the world’s largest dark web investigations and helped prevent cyberattacks before they occur.
The Company has been owned by its co-founders, Ben Jones and Dr. Gareth Owenson, and Astra Capital Management, a Washington, D.C. based private equity firm, since 2020. Searchlight’s co-founders will continue to lead the company and have retained their investment in the business. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“We are incredibly excited to have found our ideal partner in Charlesbank to support our business at this stage of growth as we build further on our momentum. The team at D.A. Davidson was key in this process and we are thankful for the guidance the team provided throughout,” said Ben Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Searchlight.
“The D.A. Davidson team’s industry domain knowledge, extensive network, and transaction expertise played a critical role in driving a terrific outcome for the Company. We are appreciative of the team’s commitment to excellence throughout the process,” commented Matt Murphy, Co-Founder of Astra Capital Management.
D.A. Davidson served as exclusive financial and strategic advisor to Searchlight.
D.A. Davidson’s Technology Investment Banking practice brings sector knowledge, transactional expertise, and full-service capabilities to our clients. This transaction highlights the ongoing success of the Technology practice, which has completed 110+ transactions representing approximately $21 billion in value since 2020.
About D.A. Davidson Companies
D.A. Davidson Companies is an employee-owned financial services firm offering a range of financial services and advice to individuals, corporations, institutions, and municipalities nationwide. Founded in 1935 with corporate headquarters in Great Falls, Montana, and regional headquarters in Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha and Seattle, the company has approximately 1,600 employees and offices in 29 states.
Subsidiaries include: D.A. Davidson & Co., a full-service investment firm providing wealth management, investment banking, equity and fixed income capital markets services, and advice; Davidson Investment Advisors, a professional asset management firm; and D.A. Davidson Trust Company, a trust and wealth management company.
For more information, visit dadavidson.com.
Contacts
Deal Team Contacts
Jonathan Lejuez, CFA, Managing Director | Austin, TX | JLejuez@dadco.com
Matthew Eichenblatt, Vice President | Irvine, CA | MEichenblatt@dadco.com
Chase Crean, Associate | New York | CCrean@dadco.com
Media Contact
Emily Roy
Prosek for D.A. Davidson
(646) 818-9232
eroy@prosek.com
