In a major shakeup in the identity management space, one of the largest makers of identity verification and management software, Okta Inc., has agreed to buy its smaller rival, Auth0 for $6.5 billion.
Okta offers solutions to help companies track and manage their employees’ identities and credentials, while Auth0 enables developers to add authentication services to their apps.
“What’s exciting to me is that these companies are compatible, identity is not a division, a part of another group or a necessary evil. This is all we do. So together, we have this opportunity to move the needle in terms of what we can offer our customers,” Eugenio Pace, co-founder and CEO of Auth0 told Forbes.
Identity operating system
Post merger, the all-stock deal will net Auth0 a fixed number of Okta shares at a pre-determined price of $276.21 each.
Sharing his views about the acquisition with Forbes, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon pointed out that the merger will allow the company to become one of the “five or six primary clouds” that customers will look to as market leaders, in the same league as Microsoft, Salesforce and Zoom.
Pace agreed with McKinnon’s vision for the identity cloud of the future, which he calls the “identity operating system.”
Reportedly, the acquisition has been agreed to by the boards of both the companies, but is still subject to regulatory approval, though the companies expect the merger to close in the first half of the year.
Via: Forbes
