Case Studies

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  • Knowledge of Industry
  • Ability to Respond Quickly
  • Acquisition Financing
SecureWorks, Inc.

GHP originally contacted SecureWorks in 2006 as part of an initiative in the Managed Security Services Provider (“MSSP”) sector and closely followed the success of Mike Cote (CEO) and the SecureWorks team over the following years. GHP recognized that the MSSP sector was an attractive growth market and that SecureWorks offered a compelling value proposition to its customers that included both deep security expertise and cost efficiencies. During the depths of the recession in early 2009, SecureWorks identified Verisign’s Managed Security Services division as an acquisition that could transform its business and position it as the clear leader in the MSSP sector. However, there was an extremely short window of opportunity; SecureWorks needed a financing partner to commit capital within three weeks. SecureWorks initially called Great Hill on April 8th, 2009 when the Dow was at 7,837. We met the following week, completed our diligence and made our financing commitment on April 25th. Great Hill’s extensive knowledge of SecureWorks’ business and the sector as a whole allowed us to move quickly and deliver the capital the company needed to secure the acquisition. GHP was rewarded for this investment when a Fortune 100 technology company similarly identified SecureWorks as a must have security offering. SecureWorks was sold to Dell at a strategic valuation in February 2011.