Jane Edwards
Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Sunday that sequestration and decreasing defense revenues were factors in the weapons maker’s move to expand into the commercial cybersecurity market.
Kennedy told WSJ reporter Doug Cameron that Raytheon’s entry into the commercial cyber market started when it created Raytheon Cyber Products business, which also caters to federal government agencies.
He also discussed RCP’s merger with the Vista Equity Partners portfolio company Websense in 2015 in order to form a cybersecurity joint venture now known as Forcepoint.
Websense’s access to several market channels is one of the reasons why Raytheon decided to acquire the business, Kennedy said to the Journal.
“Websense had an in with small and medium-size enterprises and very large enterprises, which Raytheon didn’t. It would take 10 to 15 years to rebuild that market structure.”
Click here to view Kennedy’s full interview.
