On a vibrant Lagos morning, over 90 cybersecurity professionals gathered for the Sophos Experience Partner Roadshow 2025, an annual cornerstone event for the company’s local channel partners.

More than just presentations and panels, it was a rallying cry for collaboration, innovation, and resilience in the face of evolving cyber threats.

A Shared Vision for a Safer Digital Future

With ransomware incidents spiking — accounting for 70% of attacks on small businesses and over 90% on mid-sized firms in 2024, according to the latest Sophos Threat Report — the stakes have never been higher.

“We’re not just talking products here,” said Prish Thaakar, director of Sales, Africa at Sophos.
“We’re talking about building a cybersecurity ecosystem that’s unified, intelligent, and ready for anything.”

Themed “Channel-best is not just a slogan, it’s our DNA,” the event spotlighted how Sophos is doubling down on its channel-first strategy, using tools like Sophos Central — a unified AI-powered platform backed by Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services — to secure the modern attack surface across endpoints, networks, email, and cloud.

Learning, Strategy, and a Few Big Wins

The day’s agenda was a rich blend of:

• Product roadmaps & go-to-market insights
• Advanced threat detection strategies
• Tailored training for sales, marketing, and MSP teams
• Interactive sessions and panel discussions

Partners also got a sneak peek into upcoming integrations between Sophos and Secureworks, following the 2025 acquisition — a move poised to reshape MDR and XDR services across global markets.

Recognising the Best in the Business

Sophos took time to celebrate its standout Nigerian partners, honouring them in categories like:

• Partner of the Year – Reliance Infosystems Limited
• MDR Partner of the Year – ZetaWeb Business Solutions
• Distributor of the Year – Mart Networks Solutions Limited
• Campaign of the Year – OTIS Integrated Systems
• Outstanding Contributor – Pacific Solutions Technologies Limited
• Customer Success of the Year – Casper Technologies Limited

“These awards aren’t just plaques. They reflect real commitment, deep expertise, and a shared goal of making Nigeria’s digital landscape safer,” Prish added.

What’s Next for Sophos and Nigeria’s Channel?

With the recent appointment of Chris Bell as Global SVP of Channel Strategy and the launch of MSP Elevate — a growth accelerator for managed service providers — Sophos is clearly laying long-term foundations across Africa.

MSPs already defending 250,000+ customers globally now have new tools, support teams like Sophos Partner Care and Customer Success, and deeper integration with industry-leading threat intelligence via Sophos X-Ops and Secureworks’ Counter Threat Unit (CTU).

Conclusion

Lagos 2025 wasn’t just a roadshow. It was a strategic checkpoint — reminding the industry that no one wins alone in the cyber trenches. With Sophos and its Nigerian partners working hand in hand, the country’s digital future looks a whole lot more secure.

Explore more at Sophos website.

The completion of Sophos’ acquisition of Secureworks is at an all-cash transaction valuation of Secureworks at approximately $859 million.

With the completion of the acquisition, Secureworks’ common stock has ceased trading on Nasdaq. Sophos is backed by Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm.

With this acquisition, Sophos is now the leading pure-play cybersecurity provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, supporting more than 28,000 organizations of all sizes worldwide.

The combination will enable Sophos to deliver an unparalleled security operations platform, featuring hundreds of built-in integrations for adaptive protection, detection and response for mitigating cyberattacks.

The open and scalable platform helps organizations, especially those with diverse IT estates, safeguard current and future technology investments, providing greater operational efficiencies and return on cybersecurity spend.

Sophos X-Ops is also expanding its threat intelligence and security services capabilities with the addition of the Secureworks Counter Threat Unit and security operations and advisory teams.

As a channel-first cybersecurity provider, Sophos remains unwavering in its commitment to deliver cutting-edge security services and technologies that empower our global community of resellers, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs).

This includes expanding their reach, enhancing operational scalability and providing stronger defenses to the countless organizations that need the ability to effectively defend against today’s constant and complex cyberattacks.

“The market is embracing MDR as a clear means to deliver positive cybersecurity outcomes, and this has meant rapid growth in the category,” said Joe Levy, CEO, Sophos. “Sophos is differentiated by our very mature competencies in ransomware detection, malware analysis and threat actor tradecraft. These defenses are further augmented by Sophos’ native artificial intelligence (AI), first innovated by our globally peer recognized AI team nearly a decade ago, and embedded in our MDR, endpoint, network, email, and cloud security to more effectively neutralize and stop threats. With the integration of Secureworks, our expanded services and product portfolio will provide even stronger end-to-end security solutions that will include identity threat detection and response (ITDR), next-gen SIEM and managed risk, all in a single open platform.”

“We will also be able to further advance our AI, threat intelligence and attack research through more diverse and deeper global telemetry that is analyst-tuned for the real-world. At every level, we are very excited about this next accelerated chapter for Sophos.”

Available Now

In the near term, Sophos and Secureworks are operating business as usual, working with our respective channel partners, MSPs and MSSPs worldwide to distribute our existing security services and technology.

Both companies’ sales and customer experience groups will operate to support existing customers, assist with renewals and develop current and new business opportunities.

Sophos protects more than 600,000 customers worldwide with its portfolio of MDR, endpoint, network, email, and cloud security solutions that integrate and adapt to provide real-time defense through the Sophos Central platform.

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the agreement, Sophos acquired Secureworks in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately .

Secureworks shareholders, including Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), will receive $8.50 per share in cash. This represents a 28% premium to the unaffected 90-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Sophos, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC., Barclays, BofA Securities, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., and UBS Investment Bank acted as financial advisors and provided debt financing for the transaction.

Piper Sandler & Company and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to Secureworks, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel.

• Secureworks shareholders to receive $8.50 per share in cash
• Sophos intends to integrate solutions from both companies into a broader and stronger security portfolio for all small, mid- and enterprise customers

• By combining complementary AI-driven security platforms powered by automated prevention, detection and response, the two organizations can deliver advanced solutions for defeating modern, persistent adversaries even faster
• The deal is expected to strengthen the security community by bringing together two industry leaders with shared mission-driven cultures

Sophos and Secureworks, two global leaders of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced a definitive agreement for Sophos to acquire Secureworks.

The all-cash transaction is valued at approximately $859 million. Sophos is backed by Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm.

Sophos’ experience and reputation as a leading provider of managed security services and end-to-end security products, combined with Secureworks’ security operations expertise transformed into the Taegis platform, is expected to further deliver complementary advanced MDR and XDR solutions for the benefit of their global customer bases.

Together, they will help strengthen the resilience and security posture of global organizations of any size with a combination of security controls, AI, world-class threat intelligence, and two teams with decades of cybersecurity expertise.

Sophos expects to integrate solutions from both companies into a broader and stronger security portfolio benefiting small, mid- and enterprise customers.

This includes Sophos expanding its current portfolio with other new offerings like identity detection and response (ITDR), next-gen SIEM capabilities, operational technology (OT) security, and enhanced vulnerability risk prioritization.

As two partner-centric organizations, the combination of Sophos and Secureworks will enable the combined company to expand its market presence to create greater value within the channel and strengthen the overall security community.

“Secureworks offers an innovative, market-leading solution with their Taegis XDR platform. Combined with our security solutions and industry leadership in MDR, we will strengthen our collective position in the market and provide better outcomes for organizations of all sizes globally, said Joe Levy, CEO of Sophos. “Secureworks’ renowned expertise in cybersecurity perfectly aligns with our mission to protect businesses from cybercrime by delivering powerful and intuitive products and services. This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our commitment to building a safer digital future for all.”

Cyber risk continues to escalate, driven by a rampant cybercriminal ecosystem and global geopolitical pressures.

Combined, Sophos and Secureworks share a long history of having exceptional threat intelligence, security operations, incident response, and innovative security product capabilities that help organizations defeat these adversaries.

“Our mission at Secureworks has always been to secure human progress. Sophos’ portfolio of leading endpoint, cloud, and network security solutions – in combination with our XDR-powered managed detection and response – is exactly what organizations are looking for to strengthen their security posture and collectively turn the tide against the adversary,” said Wendy Thomas, CEO, Secureworks. “As Joe and I both believe, this transaction will strengthen our go-to-market offering with Sophos’ global scale, expertise and reputation.”

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the agreement, Sophos intends to acquire Secureworks in an all-cash transaction valued at $859 million.

Secureworks shareholders, including Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), will receive $8.50 per share in cash. This represents a 28% premium to the unaffected 90-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP).

The transaction is expected to close in early 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. Additional information regarding this announcement can be found in the Form 8-K filed by Secureworks with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 21, 2024.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel to Sophos and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC., Barclays, BofA Securities, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and UBS Investment Bank are acting as financial advisors and providing debt financing for the transaction. Piper Sandler & Company and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisors to Secureworks and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is acting as legal counsel.