NSO mulls sale, closure of Pegasus division

Israeli company NSO Group, which is behind the Pegasus cyberattack software, is in danger of insolvency. According to reports by Bloomberg, it is considering shutting down the Pegasus division and putting itself up for sale.

Bloomberg quotes sources familiar with the details as saying that talks have already been held with several funds on finance or an outright sale. The company is being advised and assisted by Moelis & Co. and lawyers Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Among the potential new owners are two US funds that have discussed a takeover of the company and closure of Pegasus, one of the sources said. In this scenario, the funds will inject $200 million to turn the know-how behind Pegasus into a defensive cybersecurity product, and perhaps also to develop NSO Group’s UAV technology.

NSO Group’s spokesperson declined to comment.

A month ago, the US Department of Commerce added NSO Group and another Israeli cyberattack company Candiru to a list of companies operating against US national security and foreign policy interests. Other companies on the list included Russia’s Pozitiv and Singapore’s CSIC. The Department of Commerce’s statement said, “NSO Group and Candiru were added to the Entity List based on evidence that these entities developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments. The spyware tools were used to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on December 14, 2021.

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