French group Thales buys two cybersecurity firms

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Thales said on Tuesday it had struck a deal with Sonae Investment Management to acquire two European cybersecurity companies, S21sec and Excellium, for an enterprise value of 120 million euros ($125.32 million)

Europe's largest arms electronics provider, which also makes civil aircraft parts and digital security systems, added in a statement that those two companies together generated sales of 59 million euros in 2021 with a staff of 546 employees.

"The acquisition (...) is an important step forward for Thales in the highly dynamic market for cybersecurity consulting and managed services, which anticipates significant growth between 2020 and 2025," Thales said in the statement.

Thales, which employs 81,000 worldwide, said it would hire 11,000 people this year, including 1,000 in cybersecurity.

($1 = 0.9576 euros)

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)