Asavie Technologies has been acquired by Akamai Technologies. Founded in Dublin in 2004, Asavie software manages the security, performance and access policies for mobile and internet-connected devices.

The all-cash deal will see Asavie’s mobile, IoT and security solutions become part of Akamai’s security and personalisation services product line, which is sold to carrier partners that embed the solution within the technology bundle sold to their subscribers.

Akami announced that it is paying c.$155 million (€130 million), or $128 million net of cash acquired. This means the deal is worth c.€146,000 for every 100 shares in Asavie Technologies owned by individuals. Over thirty investors will gross over €1 million from the deal. For the complete list of Asavie shareholders, click here.

Asavie was founded by Ralph Shaw (pictured), Tom Maher and Maurice McMullin. CEO Shaw previously worked as systems integrator with Mentec before joining Baltimore Technologies in 1998.

When Baltimore sold off its hardware encryption unit to AEP, Shaw moved with it, before setting out with Asavie’s co-founders to provide on-the-go connectivity using 3G technology and early ‘smart’ devices.

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It took seven years for Asavie to turn a  profit but growth has been strong since. In 2019, company revenue was €23.7m and the business booked a net profit of €1.9m. Year-end net worth was €29m and the company paid out dividends of €4.2m.

Asavie’s 2019 balance sheet shows equity investment of c.€4m, with 90 shareholders listed in its annual return. Investors include Enterprise Ireland, Hostelworld founders Ray Nolan and Tom Kennedy, and Paddy Holohan, who founded Irish software company NewBay and later sold it to Blackberry phone creator RIM for $100m.

Publicly listed Akamai Technologies is a cloud technologies company estabished in the late 1990s and based in Massachusetts.

“We believe the addition of Asavie will help Akamai’s carrier partners address enterprise and mid-market customer demand for IoT and mobile device security and management services,” said Dr. Tom Leighton, Akami's CEO and co-founder.

“What’s notable about the Asavie solution is that as more IoT devices connect over cellular and 5G it has been shown to be very easy to scale and protect them.”

Asavie automates the creation of self-serve, private, network-based services that secure access from mobile and internet-connected devices to applications and data without requiring installation and management of client software.

“We expect Covid-19 to have a lasting impact on how employees work and how businesses operate. Network security needs will be required to evolve in a 5G era where the office needs to go wherever employees happen to work,” said Shaw.

“The Asavie suite of software-defined solutions is designed to enable enterprises to provide access to business resources while continuously protecting the business in a world of evolving cyber threats targeting mobile devices, users and applications.”