SonicWall


SonicWall, originally a private company headquartered in Silicon Valley, and a Dell subsidiary from 2012 to 2016, sells a range of Internet appliances primarily directed at content control and network security. These include devices providing services for network firewalls, unified threat management, virtual private networks, and anti-spam for email. The company also markets information subscription services related to their products. The company solutions also serve to solve problems surrounding compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
On March 13, 2012, USA Today said that Dell had announced its intent to acquire SonicWall, which then had 130 patents and 950 employees. Dell's acquisition of SonicWall became official on May 9, 2012.
On June 20, 2016, Dell sold SonicWall to private equity firm Francisco Partners and Elliott Management.

History

In 1991, Brothers Sreekanth Ravi and Sudhakar Ravi founded the company under the name Sonic Systems to develop Ethernet and Fast Ethernet cards, hubs and bridges for the Apple market.
In the late 1990s, the company released a security product initially called Interpol and later branded SonicWALL, a dedicated hardware appliance with firewall and VPN software intended for the small-business market. As sales for the security appliances rapidly accelerated, the company exited the Apple add-on networking business and refocused exclusively as a network security company.
In late 1999, the company changed its name from Sonic Systems to SonicWALL, Inc. to represent the shift to a network security company, and in November 1999 SonicWall went public with the symbol SNWL.
In 2001, SonicWall upgraded its Global Management System software to manage more VPN devices.
Matthew T. Medeiros became CEO in March 2003. SonicWall acquired a number of companies through the years, expanding its product line in the process.
In 2005, SonicWall announced the acquisition of enKoo.
In 2007, SonicWall announced the acquisition of Aventail Corporation.
On July 23, 2010, SonicWall announced that it had completed its merger with affiliates of an investor group led by Thoma Bravo, LLC, which included the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan through its private investor department, Teachers' Private Capital. After the merger SonicWall was delisted from NASDAQ.
On March 13, 2012, Dell announced that they had signed a definitive agreement to acquire SonicWall.
On May 20, 2016, Dell announced the sale of Dell Software, which included SonicWall, to private equity firm Francisco Partners and Elliott Management.