Corsair to get $75 million cash injection

Late last week there was a rumor that Corsair was considering to sell itself to a private equity firm but it turns out that this news was false. The Tech Report writes Corsair will not be taken over, instead Francisco Partners is going to invest approximately $75 million into Corsair. The firm will use this money to pursue more buyouts.

That's the gist of a clarifying e-mail we received from Corsair earlier this afternoon. The firm says the investment from Francisco Partners, which is expected to go through within the next few weeks, will amount to "approximately $75M." Francisco Partners will become a "new shareholder," but "no management changes are planned" after the transaction, and it doesn't sound like the venture capital firm will have a majority stake. (Corsair posted revenue of $455.2 million in 2011 and claims it's still profitable today. I expect it's worth well over a billion dollars at this point. Perhaps closer to $2 billion.)

While the $75 million investment won't give Francisco Partners control of the company, it will help Corsair fuel further acquisitions. Corsair sought an IPO last year for the same reason, but it now views private investors as kinder to its business than the stock market. "[W]e believed the public markets did not properly understand or value our market niche," it explains.

Corsair acquired two firms over the past year. In August the company bought German gaming peripheral maker Raptor Gaming and in February, Corsair also purchased Simple Audio, a Scottish firm that makes an Apple TV-like music streaming device.