Iliad Group bought a majority stake in security software and services company ITrust, a move the operator group’s CEO Thomas Reynaud backed to help drive a cybersecurity push from its B2B subsidiary.

ITrust is based in France and has customers across a range of sectors including some of its home market’s largest businesses and public sector entities.

It is certified by France’s National Cybersecurity Agency and aims to become a European leader in AI-based cybersecurity.

In a statement, Iliad noted the security company’s expertise would be used by B2B subsidiary Free Pro, which launched cybersecurity product Cyber XPR to coincide with the announcement of the stake purchase.

“With this acquisition, Free Pro is continuing to develop its service offering for all organisations and public-sector entities,” Reynaud said, noting an expectation ITrust will be “a real accelerator for the group in the strategic domain of cybersecurity”.

Free Pro CEO Denis Planat added the division aimed to provide a wide range of options in the cybersecurity field, noting the combination of ITrust assets with its data centre hosting services allowed it to provide a “solution 100 per cent made in France, guaranteeing the highest level of protection and total sovereignty”.

Iliad did not disclose the cost of the stake nor how much it had acquired, though noted the security company’s founder Jean-Nicolas Piotrowski remained a shareholder.