Larry Fink and his team may soon be diving into cybersecurity.

Laurence D. Fink BlackRock Chairman, CEO

Fink's BlackRock [profile], the world's largest asset manager, is "in advanced talks" to take over Cofense, Reuters reports. Leesburg, Virginia-based Cofense (the team pitches the firm as "the leader in intelligent phishing defense) is a cybersecurity firm whose backers have included Adam Street Partners and Telstra Ventures, as well as BlackRock (which owns 30 percent of Cofense).

Back in April, Cofense reportedly confirmed that Pamplona Capital Management was looking to sell its 47 percent stake in Cofense after inquiries from the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). In a $400-million leveraged buyout, Pamplona invested in Cofense in 2018, yet word has it that a big Pamplona investor, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, is on a U.S. Treasury Department "oligarchs' watchlist" over possible Kremlin ties.

"The process remains ongoing and we are working diligently towards a solution," the Pamplona team reportedly stated. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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