Bermuda's leading online security provider QuoVadis is set to benefit from a multi-million dollar investment by US-based private equity firm ABRY Partners, LLC, The Royal Gazette can exclusively reveal.

The Hamilton-based company will use the funds to develop its fast-growing European operations in one of the biggest investment deals outside of the finance and insurance sectors in Bermuda.

QuoVadis, which was founded in 1999 to provide online security services to the booming business industry in Bermuda, has recently set up operations in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Chief executive officer of QuoVadis, Roman Brunner, said: "QuoVadis' client base includes some of the largest brand names in the financial services, insurance and retail sectors.

"This investment is a strong vote of confidence from ABRY and will allow QuoVadis to increase our overseas sales presence and to accelerate our rollout of new services and support options for international customers."

John Hunt, partner of ABRY, said: "With the growing maturity of e-business, companies want the efficiencies of the online world but are also very aware of their obligations to protect data.

"With its proven technologies and important security accreditations, we believe that QuoVadis supports both those goals. We are pleased to work with QuoVadis' management to further expand the reach of their international operations."

Director of marketing, Stephen Davidson, explained how the deal came about.

"They (ABRY) have investments in companies that are similar and related businesses to what QuoVadis does," he said.

"This has been something that has been building for a while in that QuoVadis originally set up to serve the Bermuda businesses. We began serving subsidiaries of companies in Europe and Asia, so it was a slow and steady progression into serving international clients.

"We had enough clients in some of these overseas places to start building local offices there and have people on the ground in these areas. At this point the overseas offices are all very much focused on sales applications but we also want to increase the customer support we have in these local areas."

He described the investment as "one of the largest" outside the insurance and finance sectors in Bermuda.

"We have been taken to a new level because we are serving very well known international companies that don't have Bermuda connections. Our international relations have built up a real reputation."

And he believes it will be a big boost to the company.

"Basically the funds will allow us to increase our funds in this overseas market and put in place additional customer support and we will also now continue to develop new service offerings," he said. "We will be continuing to invest in our infrastructure and technologies."

QuoVadis has 10 staff in its Bermuda office and four full-time employees and some part-timers overseas, but Mr Davidson reckons this figure will increase in the future.

"Those numbers are going to grow considerably," he said. "Initially the staffing will be built up in the existing places we have.

"We have new opportunities that present themselves to us, but at this moment we have a plan that we are pursuing. We will be increasing our geographical coverage.

"As a company we know that we have a lot of good growth ideas, but don't necessarily have the resources to do them. So there is a very active plan for QuoVadis over the next two years and it is one situation which our staff are very excited about."

ABRY, which is based in Boston, Massachusetts, invests in the media, communications, business information and entertainment industries and is one of the most experienced and successful media-focused private equity investment firms in North America.

Since 1989, ABRY has completed more than $18 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity and mezzanine investments, representing investments in more than 450 properties.

QuoVadis has been going from strength to strength since its formation, being the first to achieve Authorised Certification Service provider regulations accreditation in 2002 and acquiring eVentureCentre from Zurich Financial Services the following year.

2004 saw the company launch availability and continuity services for the Bermuda market and the next year heralded the introduction of disaster recovery services throughout the the country's power outage after the Belco fire.

Most recently, this year, QuoVadis became one of the first providers world-wide to be approved to issue Extended Validation certificates as well as establishing operations in the UK.