Taylor Wessing advised Kiteworks on the acquisition of DRACOON GmbH

Taylor Wessing, under the lead of Munich based partner Dr. Philip Cavaillès, has advised Kiteworks, which delivers data privacy and compliance for sensitive content communications through customer-enabled Private Content Networks (PCN), on the acquisition of DRACOON GmbH, a European leader in secure and compliant file sharing and collaboration.

This move and the parallel acquisition of ownCloud GmbH, significantly expands Kiteworks’ market commitment, accelerating its vision to deliver the most robust and easy-to-use platform for content security and compliance on a global scale.

These two acquisitions represent a pivotal milestone in Kiteworks’ dedication to enabling organizations to securely collaborate with customers, partners, and employees through secure file and email data exchange across a PCN. DRACOON’s and ownCloud’s customers and partners have the opportunity to gain access to the expanded security and compliance capabilities of Kiteworks. Over time, the combined resources from the three companies will greatly advance data governance and controls for regulated industries in the DACH market by enabling them to realize zero-trust policy management for sensitive content communications on one platform. Further, the high level of commitment that DRACOON and ownCloud apply to the data privacy and sovereignty of their customer data is embraced by Kiteworks - from single-tenant hosting to key management and encryption that can be accessed only by the customer, giving total privacy to customer data.

For Kiteworks, the two acquisitions give the company immediate access to DRACOON’s and ownCloud’s rapidly growing European customer bases, with key concentrations in the DACH market, that span numerous industry sectors. Recognizing the importance of having a local presence in the European market, Kiteworks plans further investments in on-the-ground teams and infrastructure to support local customers.  

About Kiteworks

Kiteworks' mission is to empower organizations to effectively manage risk in every send, share, receive, and save of sensitive content. The Kiteworks platform provides customers with a Private Content Network that delivers content governance, compliance, and protection. The platform unifies, tracks, controls, and secures sensitive content moving within, into, and out of their organization, significantly improving risk management and ensuring regulatory compliance on all sensitive content communications. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Kiteworks protects over 35 million end users for over 3,800 global enterprises and government agencies.

About DRACOON

DRACOON provides secure file sharing and collaboration services to over 500,000 users worldwide, including major companies across industries like transportation, finance, healthcare, and more. With industry-specific solutions and certifications like BSI C5, IPW PS 951, and ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018 that meet the highest security standards, DRACOON enables efficient and compliant file sharing, along with features like encrypted email and cloud drive integration. Trusted by Deutsche Bahn, Thyssenkrupp, Telekom, Helios Kliniken, and other leading organizations, DRACOON ensures people everywhere can collaborate securely and efficiently.

Legal advisers of Kiteworks:

Taylor Wessing: Dr Philip Cavaillès (Lead Partner), Fritz Krings (Associate), Inken Brandt (Associate), Henrik Grawe (Associate), Aodhfinn Broderick (Paralegal) (all Corporate/M&A, Munich), Jan Feuerhake (Salary Partner), Dr Fabian Masurat (Senior Associate), Kira Raguse (Associate), (all Technology, Media & Telecoms, Hamburg), Dr Michael Kieffer (Partner), Maximilian Höving (Associate, Commercial) (both Munich), Marc André Gimmy (Partner), Dr Michael Beer (Salary Partner), Dr Jan Grawe (Salary Partner), Dr Sara Thienhaus (Senior Associate), Sophie Burmeister (Associate) (all Employment, Munich and Frankfurt), Dr Michael Brüggemann (Partner), Malke Kristina Zimmermann (Associate), Dr Melanie von Dewall (Senior Associate), Tim Hendricks (Professional Support Lawyer) (all Competition, EU & Trade, Dusseldorf and Munich).