Drive erasure company Blancco Technology Group will pay up to $10 million for a competitor with a wide U.S. customer base.
Blancco, a publicly traded company with headquarters locations in London and Austin, Texas, announced the acquisition of WipeDrive on June 8.
Terms of the deal include an initial cash payment of $8.5 million, followed by $1.5 million to be paid a year after acquisition, subject to certain performance criteria, according to a press release.
Previously called White Canyon Software, WipeDrive is a Pleasant Grove, Utah-based software company founded in 1998. It provides data diagnostic, wiping, transfer and verification software tools.
Blancco provides software that erases drives so they can be safely resold. The company recently adapted its Blancco Drive Eraser so it can process Chromebooks. According to Blancco’s 2021 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report, the company’s software tools erased 54 million IT assets and other data-bearing devices last year.
The June 8 press release notes WipeDrive has a significant U.S. customer base that includes over 500 organizations spanning ITAD service providers, asset management systems, large corporations and U.S. government agencies. A privately owned company, WipeDrive recorded revenues of $3.6 million and profits before tax of $1.1 million in 2021.
“The acquisition of WipeDrive is highly complementary with our existing services and its U.S.-focused customer base expands our reach with ITAD and enterprise customers in the US, with both large corporates and U.S. government departments,” Blancco CEO Matt Jones stated in the release. “Blancco is a global leader in the supply of data erasure solutions, and this deal only serves to further enhance our position and reputation in the data compliance, data privacy, cyber security and sustainable data management markets.”
In addition to expanding Blancco’s U.S. customer base, the deal gives Blancco access to WipeDrive’s various proprietary technologies, which “Blancco will leverage with its current client base,” according to the release.
WipeDrive’s employees will join Blancco.
“Blancco is an acknowledged leader in data erasure and is the ideal company to take our business to the next level,” Bill Glynn, WipeDrive’s CEO, stated. “The skills and experience within both our teams are incredibly complementary and we are set to collaborate on what I am sure will be a very successful future together.”
