WISE SECURITY GLOBAL, REFERENCE PLAYER IN CYBER SECURITY SECTOR ON THE SPANISH MARKET, WITH 120 HUMAN RESOURCES, JOINS VAR GROUP DIGITAL SECURITY

Sesa (“SESA” – SES.MI), reference player in technological innovation and digital services for the business segment, with consolidated revenues in the Full Year ending April 30, 2023 of about Eu 2.9 billion and 4,750 employees, has signed, through the wholly owned subsidiary Var Group S.p.A., a corporate and industrial partnership agreement for 51% stake acquisition of Wise Security Global SL (“Wise Security”), strengthening its distinctive digital security skills.

Wise Security, based in Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Pamplona and Zaragoza (Spain) with a team of 120 human resources, is focused on IT security, providing Cyber Security services (Incident response and corporate data protection consultancy thanks to a dedicated SOC) and internally developed Definitive ID and Digital Evidence solutions based on Blockchain technology, with a customer set of leading national and international enterprises of the Banking and Insurance sector.

Wise Security, with expected revenues in Year 2023 of over Eu 10 million and an Ebitda Margin equal to 20%, operates with the mission of protecting companies’ information systems from data loss risks and preventing cybercrime, as well as developed Definitive ID, Digital Evidence proprietary solutions on Blockchain technology crucial for IT security, one of the fastest growing market segments in digital transformation demand, increasingly pervasive in the customers strategic decisions.

The business combination strengthens the skills of Var Group Digital Security, which achieves a total of 350 skilled resources in consulting and IT security, with expected revenues in the current Fiscal Year as of April 30, 2023 of about Eu 60 million and a strong European presence outside Italy, both in Germany thanks to the recent acquisition of Cyres Consulting in December 2022 and in Spain, thanks to Wise Security partnership. The partnership expands the vertical solutions in Cyber Security, optimizing the IT security solutions integration processes with the infrastructures and applications of its customers.

The corporate partnership has been closed on evaluation criteria consistent with those usually adopted by Sesa Group, with the operative involvement and long-term equity commitment of the Wise Security Managing Partners and founders José Luis Yela, Gorka Jimenez, Esther Lekunberri and Domingo Cardona, targeting sustainable growth of skills and specializations at an international level.

The corporate partnership integrates the wider Sesa Group strategy of investment in the industrial development of the vertical digital skills in strategic sectors for the European economy, to support the digital transformation of Enterprises and Organizations. Sesa Group continues to boost its development path in human resources and digital skills in strategic development areas such as IT security, through bolt-on industrial M&As, with over 600 skilled human resources at consolidated level and coverage of the whole chain of IT security and security enabling technologies.

“Thanks to the partnership with Wise Security we continue to expand our set of skills in Digital Security, we established one of the largest and advanced hub of digital security skills, with total 350 skilled human resources alongside the main European economic districts. In a phase of increasing and pervasive threats and cyberattacks for companies and organizations arise the growing need of strengthening digital security organization procedures” stated Francesca Moriani, CEO of Var Group and Mirko Gatto, CEO of Var Group Digital Security.

“We are excited to join Sesa Group and Var Group organization, reference player in Italy in the IT security consultancy sector: the business combination will allow us to accelerate the development of vertical skills for the benefit of our customers, meeting the strong demand for data protection and security of companies and strengthening our leadership on the Spanish market and our international path” stated José Luis Yela and Gorka Jimenez, founders of Wise Security Global SL.

“We are pleased to welcome Wise Security organization and human resources to Sesa Group, with the aim of enhancing their skills and further enriching our offering in a strategic area of development such as IT security, with over 600 skilled human resources at consolidated level and coverage of the whole chain of IT security. We will continue to boost our growth through bolt-on industrial M&As supporting the Italian and European economy in a crucial phase of digital evolution, targeting long term sustainable growth for the benefit of all stakeholders”, stated Alessandro Fabbroni, CEO of Sesa.



Sesa S.p.A., with Headquarters in Empoli (Florence), is the operating holding company of a Group with presence on the whole Italian territory and foreign countries as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Romania and China that represents the reference player in Italy in technological innovation and digital services for the business segment, with consolidated revenues of Euro 2,900 million (+21.3% Y/Y) and 4,750 employees in the Fiscal Year as of April 30, 2023 (+14% Y/Y).

Sesa Group has the mission of offering technological solutions, digital services and business applications to support the digital transformation and innovation towards sustainability of Enterprises and Organizations, through four main business Sectors (preliminary data, the definitive results will be approved by the Sesa BoD on July 18, 2023): - Corporate, with about revenues of Euro 20 million and 150 human resources as of April 30, 2023; - VAD (Value Added Distribution), with about revenues of Euro 2,240 million and 655 human resources as of April 30, 2023; - SSI (Software and System Integration), with about revenues of Euro 700 million and 3,350 human resources as of April 30, 2023; - Business Services, with about revenues of Euro 82 million and 570 human resources as of April 30, 2023.

Sesa Group pursues a sustainable development strategy for the benefit of all Stakeholders, with a track record in the period 2011-2023 of continuous growth in employment, revenues (CAGR revenues 2011-2022 +11.9%) and profitability (CAGR Ebitda 2011-2022 +15.5%). Sesa Group strategy of long-term value generation for all stakeholder is based on human resources skill development, environmental sustainability and social responsibility, with continuous improvement of ESG performance.

Sesa introduced in its corporate bylaw the sustainable growth as Board of Directors priority and starting from FY 2022 Sesa has published the Integrated Annual Report, providing a complete, measurable, and transparent representation of the Group value generation, at financial and ESG performance level. In terms of sustainability governance, the Group’s main companies achieved the ISO 14001 certification and the UN Global Compact membership.

In 2022 Sesa reached the Gold level issued by Ecovadis and achieved the increase to B level of sustainability rating issued by CDP. Sesa S.p.A. is listed on the Euronext STAR Milan (ISIN Code: IT0004729759) and is part of FTSE Italia Mid Cap index.