SGS buys majority stake in Hungary's Alverad to build European cyber hub
What's the deal? Swiss testing and certification group SGSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired a majority stake in AlveradDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Hungarian IT and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity firm, through its local unit SGS Hungária. Alverad will keep its brand, team, operating model, and existing clients while joining the SGS network. Neither side disclosed financial terms.
What's the endgame? Alverad becomes SGS's first integrated IT and OT cybersecurity competence centre in Europe — and the third such unit globally. Its role: supplying expertise on industrial and IT system security, and supporting testing and certification tied to critical infrastructure.
Why now? The deal anchors SGS's Strategy 27 programme, which prioritises building out its Digital Trust arm covering cybersecurity, data protection, digital infrastructure, and regulatory compliance. SGS wants regional cybersecurity capacity built on Alverad's expertise.
Alverad has operated in Hungary's cybersecurity market for nearly 20 years, offering consulting, audits, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and managed security services. It runs a testing laboratory accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard by the National Accreditation Authority. The company says it has performed OT cybersecurity work at close to 90% of Hungary's domestic power plants.
What they're saying: Attila Hinkel, Alverad's managing director, said SGS was not looking to build a new cybersecurity unit but to build on the Hungarian firm's existing expertise. András Kákonyi, managing director of SGS Hungária, said the acquisition aims to expand Digital Trust and cybersecurity services, adding that Alverad's industrial and IT expertise complements SGS's international experience.
The signal: Linking IT and OT security has become central to protecting critical infrastructure as energy, utility, industrial, and transport systems digitalise and their networks converge. For SGS, folding in a specialist rather than building one is a fast route into a market where certification credibility matters — and it hands a two-decade-old Hungarian firm a global distribution channel.
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