Salesforce announced it is acquiring Own Company, a leader in data protection and management.

Salesforce will pay approximately $1.9 billion in cash for Own, saying the company’s expertise and portfolio will help Salesforce enhance its data protection offerings.

“Data security has never been more critical, and Own’s proven expertise and products will enhance our ability to offer robust data protection and management solutions to our customers,” said Steve Fisher, President and GM, Einstein 1 Platform and Unified Data Services. “This proposed transaction underscores our commitment to providing secure, end-to-end solutions that protect our customers’ most valuable data and navigate the shifting landscape of data security and compliance.”

“We’re excited to join forces with Salesforce, a company that shares our commitment to data resilience and security,” said Sam Gutmann, Own CEO. “As digital transformation accelerates, our mission has expanded from preventing data loss in the cloud to helping customers protect their data, unlock business insights, and accelerate AI-driven innovation. Together with Salesforce, we’ll deliver even greater value for our customers by driving innovation, securing data, and ensuring compliance in the world’s most complex and highly regulated industries.”

Own has established itself as a leader in its field, and has almost 7,000 customers. Salesforce says Own’s products and services will compliment its existing ones.

The acquisition comes at a time when customers are increasingly focused on mitigating data loss due to system failures, human error, and cyberattacks. The advent of AI has made customers even more aware of the need to protect and manage access to data. By investing more deeply in pure cloud-native data protection solutions, Salesforce aims to accelerate the growth of its Platform Data Security, Privacy, and Compliance products.

Own’s capabilities will complement Salesforce’s existing offerings, such as Salesforce Backup, Shield, and Data Mask. This will enable Salesforce to offer a more comprehensive data protection and loss prevention set of products, further reinforcing its commitment to providing secure, end-to-end solutions. These solutions are essential for protecting customers’ most valuable assets—their data—and for deriving the most value from their historical data by leveraging AI to understand trends and forecast future growth.

Salesforce has made a number of strategic acquisitions in the last several years, the largest being Slack. The company had slowed its pace of acquisitions last year, but this latest deal could indicate the company is returning to its former pace.