Novalpina Capital, a London-based private equity firm that owns the majority stake in NSO Group, the company responsible for the infamous Pegasus spyware, is set to be liquidated and removed as the corporate manager of its fund, Sky News reports.
According to the media outlet, this development is yet to be made public, and is expected to be formalized during a vote among Novalpina's fund investors in August, while the process to remove the firm as manager of the fund is "expected to take several months at least."
The company’s "winding-up" was reported to have not been connected, directly, to the scandal involving NSO.
The media outlet cites what it states were unnamed insiders saying that any attempt to sell Novalpina’s stake in NSO would likely be "fiendishly complicated given the recent revelations."
Novalpina bought its NSO Group share in 2019, when it supported the latter company’s original co-founders, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, in the purchase of NSO’s majority state, put up for sale by Francisco Partners for $1 billion.
NSO Group, the Israeli cybersecurity company, has gained significant notoriety recently as its 'Pegasus' spyware product, allegedly designed to help track criminals and terrorists, has also been used to spy on politicians and journalists.
A joint investigation by several prominent media outlets revealed that the spyware could target some 50,000 phone numbers, including that of French President Emmanuel Macron.