ExpressVPN Bought by Same Company as Private Internet Access

https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/14/expressvpn_bought_kap…

Kape now owns VPN services CyberGhost VPN as well as ZenMate and Private Internet Access, and with ExpressVPN onboard, that apparently takes its subscriber count up to six million.

UK-headquartered Kape Technologies announced on Monday it has acquired ExpressVPN in a $936m (£675m) cash and stocks deal, a move it claims will double its customer base to at least six million.

In a canned statement, Kape said combining the two companies would "create a premium consumer privacy and security player," and that the acquisition "further positions Kape to define the next generation of privacy and security protection tools and services to return greater control over the digital sphere to consumers."

Founded in 2009 and based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN is generally known for being one of the "best" VPN providers on the market.

Let's take a look at its new owner. Kape used to be known as Crossrider until it changed its name in 2018 to move away from its advert-slinging past and reinvent itself as a cybersecurity outfit. Crossrider was founded in 2011, and in 2012, billionaire Teddy Sagi took control of it for $37m.

In 2015, a joint study by the University of California, Berkeley and Google identified Crossrider as a major affiliate of ad injectors, including SuperFish that you may remember from the laptop adware fiasco.