Zix Expands Leadership Team with Vice President of Corporate Development and Names Chief Technology Officer

Zix Corporation (Zix), (Nasdaq: ZIXI), a leader in email security, has appointed Bhavin Merchant as Vice President of Corporate Development and expanded Nigel Johnson’s role with the company to become Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Merchant will lead Zix’s strategic growth initiatives, including evaluating and executing partnerships and acquisitions. Johnson will enable Zix to maintain its leadership and voice in the market as customers’ needs evolve and the technology landscape changes.

Merchant joins Zix with nearly 20 years of experience in technology investment banking focusing on enterprise software and security companies. During his career, he completed over 50 transactions, totaling more than $5 billion for both public and private technology companies and advised on strategy, business development, capital raising and merger and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Zix, Merchant led BVM Consulting and advised Zix in its March 2017 purchase of Greenview Data, an email security company. Previously, he served as an investment banker at Wells Fargo Securities, UBS Securities and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.

“Bhavin was instrumental in sourcing and executing the acquisition of Greenview Data,” said Dave Wagner, Chief Executive Officer at Zix. “Bhavin’s background and experience offer the management team a valuable perspective, and he will be a driving force as we continue to implement our growth strategy.”

“The IT security market is a dynamic industry filled with constant innovation and leading technical solutions to protect our most valuable assets. I am excited to join Zix, a leader in this space, and look forward to collaborating with Dave and the management team, leveraging my skills and experiences to contribute to Zix’s growth initiatives,” said Merchant.

Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in information security and joined the Zix leadership team in 2004. As the Vice President of Business Development, Johnson has developed and led OEM partnerships, including relationships with Cisco and Google. He also manages international sales through OEM partners. Johnson will maintain his responsibilities for international business development, along with his role as CTO.

Previously, Johnson served as Zix’s Vice President of Product Management, leading the advancement of Zix’s superior email encryption solution and the launch of Zix’s email data loss prevention and bring-your-own-device security capabilities. Prior to Zix, he worked for Entrust Inc. (now Entrust Datacard), in senior management positions including Vice President of Product Management and Vice President of Business Development. He also worked at Nortel Networks Inc. in the development of classified military communications security systems and is an inventor on several patents.

“As we further position Zix as a leader in the email security market, we recognized the need for a Chief Technology Officer whose thought leadership and guidance would ensure that Zix and our customers are positioned for success,” said Wagner. “Nigel’s technical and business acumens combined with his history as a leader in Zix give him unique insight into the larger technology ecosystem and make him the right person for the role.”

“For more than a decade, Zix has been the premier source for the latest advancements in email encryption. As we expand our footprint and enter the advanced threat protection market, it’s our mission to remain a valuable email security partner by keeping our customers aware and ahead of trends and threats, and I’m excited to serve as the first CTO in leading that effort for the greater benefit of our customers,” said Johnson.

About Zix Corporation

Zix Corporation (Zix) is a leader in email security. Trusted by the nation’s most influential institutions in healthcare, finance and government, Zix delivers a superior experience and easy-to-use solutions for email encryption and data loss prevention, advanced threat protection, archiving and bring your own device (BYOD) mobile security. Focusing on the protection of business communication, Zix enables its customers to better secure data and meet compliance needs. Zix is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ZIXI. For more information, visit zixcorp.com.

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