Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc has bought computer forensics specialists Mandiant Corp in a $1.05 billion deal.

Mandiant has hit the headlines in the past for its role in revealing the involvement of a specialised Chinese military unit’s involvement in hacking major U.S. companies.

The markets responded favourably with FireEye shares rising by 20 per cent on the announcement of the merger, which creates a cybersecurity company focused on contemporary cloud based services.

FireEye has said that it expects to see revenue growth of 50 per cent this year.

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