Blackstone's David Johnson to Join Glilot Capital Partners

TEL AVIV, Israel, September 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Glilot Capital Partners, a Herzliya-based early stage venture fund, is proud to announce the appointment of David Johnson as the firm's Chairman of the Board of Experts. Mr. Johnson will join a board already comprised of industry leaders in technology, cyber security and enterprise software including Timothy Murphy, former Deputy Director of the FBI and President of Thomson Reuters Special Services, Richard Alexander, Chief Information Officer and Managing Director, Cerberus Capital Management, Ray Rothrock, Chairman and CEO of RedSeal and former Partner Emeritus at Venrock, John Holland, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Risk Officer at PNC, Tomer Barel, SVP of Global Chief Risk and Data Officer at Paypal, and others.

"I am excited to share my perspectives and experience with the strong, professional team at Glilot and their invested portfolio companies. As an established, innovative leader in the field of enterprise software investment, Glilot's resounding success in the last few years is unparalleled in the Israeli market. As Chairman of the Board of Experts, I will be able to provide significant added value for Glilot's portfolio companies, an area where they already excel. Glilot has a bright future and I look forward to being part of their success for years to come," said Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson joins Glilot while acting as an advisor across all of Blackstone's investments group.

Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms with over $340B in assets under management. In his brief time at Blackstone, Mr. Johnson has already initiated a number of major M&A deals including the 2014 acquisition of Accuvant, an information and security solutions provider. Under Mr. Johnson's leadership, Accuvant merged with FishNet to create Optiv, the largest private cyber security company in the world, with annual revenues approaching $2B.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Johnson served as Senior Vice President of Strategy at Dell Corporation where he was responsible for corporate strategy, corporate development, and acquisition integration. In his three years at Dell, Mr. Johnson oversaw more than a dozen acquisitions totaling $20+ billion dollars and helped transform Dell into an industry leader in software, cloud computing and data security. Mr. Johnson led the acquisition of Perot Systems, an IT services provider, one of Dell's largest acquisitions in their history. He was also responsible for Dell's first ever-Israeli acquisition when he oversaw the purchase of Exanet in 2010.

Prior to Dell, Mr. Johnson spent 27 years at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in a variety of corporate development and finance roles including Vice President of Corporate Development where he was responsible for IBM's acquisitions, divestitures, minority investments, and acquisition integration. During his final nine years with IBM, Mr. Johnson was in charge of all M&A activity, including the $3.5B acquisition of PwC's consulting arm in 2002. In addition, he oversaw the acquisition of multiple Israeli companies including XIV, an enterprise storage company, which was ultimately acquired for $300M.

Mr. Johnson's decades of experience at esteemed multinational organizations have given him the knowledge and expertise to provide valuable insight for Glilot's future investments and guidance for their current portfolio companies. As Chairman, Mr. Johnson's primary responsibilities will include consulting Glilot about investment opportunities, assisting current portfolio companies with growth and penetration into US markets, and representing the firm on a global scale.

About Glilot Capital Partners:

Glilot Capital Partners is a seed and early stage venture fund that invests in Israel's most extraordinary entrepreneurs. They back teams that develop sophisticated technology, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and enterprise software.

The fund creates an environment that makes it possible to generate real, lasting value for both sides of the investment equation. Among the companies Glilot has invested in thus far, three of the first four have been acquired by Microsoft, Marketo and Intuit.

Glilot Capital Partners was founded in 2011 by Kobi Samboursky and Arik Kleinstein, former entrepreneurs and veterans of the IDF's most elite intelligence unit, and currently manages $125M across its funds.

For further information please contact:
Hagar Sagi
Director of Marketing
Glilot Capital Partners
[email protected]
+972-546833983

SOURCE Glilot Capital Partners