Security News > 2021 > September > ExpressVPN bought for $1bn by Brit biz with an intriguing history in adware

UK-headquartered Kape Technologies announced on Monday it has acquired ExpressVPN in a $936m cash and stocks deal, a move it claims will double its customer base to at least six million.

In a canned statement, Kape said combining the two companies would "Create a premium consumer privacy and security player," and that the acquisition "Further positions Kape to define the next generation of privacy and security protection tools and services to return greater control over the digital sphere to consumers."

Kape now owns VPN services CyberGhost VPN as well as ZenMate and Private Internet Access, and with ExpressVPN onboard, that apparently takes its subscriber count up to six million.

ExpressVPN veep Harold Li told The Register: "Ensuring that Kape shared our commitment to privacy and doing right by users was a non-negotiable in our due diligence process, and we were thorough in our assessment. Based on what we saw and heard, we are confident about working with Kape.".

For now, at least, Kape plans to operate ExpressVPN services independently: it will still be legally based in the British Virgin Islands and run as its own unit, and continues to promise not to collect people's connection logs.

"ExpressVPN will remain a separate service from other Kape brands, and everything you've come to know and love about ExpressVPN will only continue to improve: our award-winning speed and reliability, premium global server network and bandwidth, 24/7 live chat, BVI jurisdiction, policy of not collecting activity or connection logs, independent third-party audits, and more," wrote ExpressVPN. .

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/09/14/expressvpn_bought_kape/