Spyware maker NSO Group confirms it has been acquired by US investors

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has confirmed to TechCrunch that a US investment group has acquired the company.
"A U.S. investment group has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company and gained a controlling stake," NSO Group spokesman Oded Hershowitz told TechCrunch on Friday.
The confirmation of the deal came shortly after Israeli technology news website Calcalist reported on Friday that a group led by Hollywood producer Robert Simmonds had agreed to acquire the surveillance technology maker in a deal worth tens of millions of dollars.
Hershowitz declined to disclose the specific investment amount and identity of the investor.
"This investment does not mean that the company is separated from Israeli regulatory or operational control," Hershowitz said."The company's headquarters and core businesses will remain in Israel and continue to be subject to comprehensive supervision and management by relevant Israeli authorities, including the Ministry of Defense and institutions under the Israeli regulatory framework."
In 2023, the Guardian reported that Symonds and one of his partners were exploring the possibility of acquiring a controlling stake in NSO Group through their investment company, but the deal failed to materialize at the time.
Calcalist reports that in a new deal with Symonds, NSO Group co-founder and executive chairman Omri Lavie will no longer be involved in the operation of the spyware maker.
Ravi did not immediately respond when contacted by TechCrunch; Symonds and his Hollywood company STX Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment.
NSO Group has been mired in controversy since its establishment.
Researchers from digital rights organizations such as the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and Amnesty International have documented dozens of cases over the years: government customers of the NSO Group have used their software to monitor and hack into the mobile phones of journalists, dissidents and human rights defenders in Hungary, India, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.
NSO Group has long claimed that its spyware was designed not to target U.S. mobile phone numbers-a move that may be to avoid affecting its access to the U.S. market. But in 2021, the company was exposed to have monitored about 12 U.S. government officials stationed overseas.
Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Department of Commerce included NSO Group on the "U.S. Entity List" and prohibited U.S. companies from trading with the company. Since then, the NSO Group has been trying to escape the U.S. government blacklist, most recently in May 2025, with the help of a lobbying firm linked to the Trump administration.
John Scott-Railton, a senior fellow at Citizen Lab who has helped investigate the abuse of NSO spyware for more than a decade, told TechCrunch he was concerned about the acquisition.
"NSO is a company that has long violated U.S. interests and assisted in monitoring U.S. officials. Under what circumstances can people trust such a person (Symonds) to properly supervise a company like the NSO Group?" said Scott Rearton.
"Furthermore, what I really worry about is that NSO has been trying hard to enter the U.S. market and sell its products to police in cities across the United States. This 'dictator technology' should never appear around Americans or threaten our constitutionally protected rights and freedoms."
Ownership of the NSO Group has changed hands many times before.
The group was originally founded by Niv Karmi, Shalev Hulio and Omri Ravi, and was acquired by US private equity firm Francisco Partners in 2014. In 2019, Ravi and Julio regained control of the company with the help of European private equity firm Novalpina. In 2021, Berkeley Research Group in California took over the management of the fund. In 2023, Ravi once again regained control of NSO Group as a majority shareholder.