Paris, November 26, 2025 – Proskauer has advised WALLIX, a leader in cybersecurity solutions that protect identities and access to digital and industrial environments, in connection with the acquisition of French company Malizen, which specializes in cybersecurity data analysis using artificial intelligence.
Based in Rennes, at the heart of the Cyber Excellence Cluster where WALLIX operates one of its R&D centers, Malizen is a technological gem born from a spin-off of research conducted at the Inria center in Rennes (National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology) by its founder and CEO, Christopher Humphries, who holds a Ph.D. in cybersecurity from the University of Rennes 1 in partnership with the French Defense Procurement Agency.
The company specializes in User Behavior Analytics (UBA) and plays a strategic role in cybersecurity by enabling organizations to proactively detect and anticipate threats. Leveraging artificial intelligence, its solution analyzes user behavior to detect anomalies and anticipate cyber risks, providing greater visibility and enhanced preventive capabilities.
Christopher Humphries successfully brought together leading shareholders, including Inria and prominent tech business angels such as Éric Bantegnie (founder of Esterel Technologies), along with investment funds Tomcat, Hypade, and Corcovado, which will become shareholders of WALLIX as part of this transaction.
The acquisition of Malizen accelerates WALLIX’s roadmap around AI and fully aligns with its strategy to enrich and platformize the Group’s IAM-PAM solution. WALLIX gains both a team of AI specialists to strengthen its existing R&D teams and a new technology that will enhance its software suite starting in 2026. Integrating behavioral analysis of human and non-human users into WALLIX solutions represents a powerful commercial lever, particularly for large enterprises facing high volumes of access (internal, external, across IT systems and industrial networks) and needing to strengthen resilience through intelligent anticipation of cyberattacks and human errors.
The transaction involves acquiring 100% of Malizen’s share capital. All Malizen shareholders will become WALLIX shareholders and have committed to retain all shares received for a minimum period of six months.
The Proskauer team advising Wallix was led by partner Jeremy Scemama and associate Benjamin Benzakine (M&A). The team also included partner Gwenaël Kropfiner and Maxime Dussartre (Tax).
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