Apple service provider Jamf buys zero-trust software vendor Wandera for $400 million

Apple enterprise support services provider Jamf this afternoon said it will acquire nine-year-old startup Wandera of San Francisco, a provider of cloud-based software for "zero trust" security, in what it said would "close the gap" between what consumers and what enterprise wants. 

Minneapolis-based Jamf will pay $350 million up-front, plus an additional $50 million to be paid in two installments later this year, for a total considration of $400 million, which will be financed with cash and debt, said Jamf.

Simultaneously, Jamf reported Q1 revenue and profit that topped Wall Street's expectations, and an outlook that was higher as well. 

Jamf shares declined by 2% in late trading at $30.80.  

The acquisition of Wandera "will provide our customers a single source platform that handles deployment, Application Lifecycle Management, policies, filtering, and security capabilities across all Apple devices," said Jamf CEO Dean Hager in prepared remarks, "while delivering Zero Trust Network Access for all mobile workers."

Addressing Q1 results, Hager remarked that the company had seen "strong momentum and balanced growth across our business in the first quarter as current trends in mobile work, education technology and digital health continued to strengthen our value proposition to customers as well as our business results."

Added Hager, "The year is off to a great start, and with the strategic acquisition of Wandera, we will enhance our leadership position in security with a uniquely comprehensive platform, including advanced security solutions like zero trust network access. 

"We are excited to round out our offering to provide customers an Apple-first enterprise solution that connects, manages and protects all Apple devices, data and users.""

Revenue in the three months ended in December rose 37%, year over year, to $81.2 million, yielding a net profit of 8 cents a share, excluding some costs.

Analysts had been modeling $76.7 million and 5 cents per share.

Jamf said its annualized recurring revenue rose 37% as well, to $308 million.

Subscription revenue in the quarter rose to $74.9 million, it said.

For the current quarter, the company sees revenue of $82 million to $84 million, above consensus for $79 million.

For the full year, the company sees revenue in a range of $335 million to $341 million, versus consensus of $333.8 million.