Who has controlled NSO and Q Cyber since 2023?

analysisIsraeli business reporting on 1 March 2023 said that the lenders, who had lent about half a billion dollars for the buyback from Francisco Partners, had exercised their rights under the loan agreements. The shares of NSO's Luxembourg parent NorthPole, until then held by a holding company called Diamond and pledged to the lenders, were transferred directly to Dufresne Holdings, created in Luxembourg in January 2023; according to the register as of 10 February, Dufresne had one shareholder and one director, Omri Lavie, and the new controlling owner replaced the directors throughout the chain, including BRG's, pending the entry of new investors. The report, based on a notice filed in Q Cyber's Tel Aviv proceedings and on the Luxembourg register, called OSY NSO's Israeli parent, whereas the Israeli parent is Q Cyber. NSO did not respond. A spokesperson for TREO NOAL GP, general partner of the NOAL fund, which held the majority equity in NSO, said the lenders, who had exercised effective control over NSO for 15 months, had seemingly organised a foreclosure after NSO failed to meet its financial obligations since 2021, that the fund had been denied basic corporate information, including on compliance with US law and sales to elevated-risk customers, and that its investment had been and remained valueless. ¹

analysisThe company records fill in the dates. Register summaries by a company-data aggregator, whose dates are those of the register publications, record that Dufresne Holding S.à r.l. (B275054) was registered on 27 January 2023 with capital of €12,000, Lavie as manager and one shareholder, Lavie being listed as partner in 2023 and 2024, and that a publication of 24 February 2023 records it in place of Diamond LIE as NorthPole Newco's shareholder. NorthPole Newco's 2024 accounts record that on 17 February 2023 all shares held by its new shareholder were pledged to Wilmington Trust (London) Limited as collateral agent, and that after the "appropriation" the lenders agreed on 16 March 2023 to the change of control of the company and its subsidiaries and extended a super-priority loan of USD 5,000,000. The accounts list Lavie as a manager from 17 February 2023 and Anthony Levy from 15 March 2023, with the same two managers at OSY; an aggregator page for Lavie lists him as a manager of OSY and of Q Cyber Technologies S.à r.l. in publications of 23 February 2023 and of NorthPole Newco in one of 24 February 2023, with Anthony Levy beside him from March 2023 and both still listed in August 2024. A publication of 17 August 2026 again lists Lavie as Dufresne's manager and member of its executive board, with one shareholder. ^{2 3 4 5 6 7}

analysisA press account of August 2023 named the creditors who had taken the shares and moved them to Lavie's holding company as including Credit Suisse, Senator Investment Group and Birch Grove Capital, and said the company still carried about half a billion dollars of debt from the Francisco Partners buyback. ⁸

analysisAccording to Israeli business reporting, the Hollywood producer Robert Simonds, founder of STX Entertainment, joined the holding company's board shortly after the transfer, at the lenders' initiative to raise financing, and tried to acquire NSO in June 2023; an aggregator's summary of the register lists his appointment as a Dufresne manager in a publication of 16 March 2023 and his departure in one of 17 August 2023. He left the board in August 2023 after five months, when the acquisition attempt had failed. The August 2023 report suggested he may have been forced out for lack of Israeli Defence Ministry approval, possibly because of business ties to China; that reason is the publication's speculation, not a recorded decision of the ministry. ^{9 8 2 3 4 5}

analysisOn 10 October 2025 NSO spokesperson Oded Hershowitz told a US technology publication that "an American investment group has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company and has acquired controlling ownership", and that the headquarters and core operations remained in Israel under Israeli supervision, including the Ministry of Defense. He declined to name the investors or the amount and, according to the publication, later declared his comments off the record; Lavie did not immediately comment, and neither Simonds nor STX Entertainment responded. Israeli business reporting the same day said the group was led by Simonds, that the deal was valued at several tens of millions of dollars and expected to include the divestment of NSO's roughly $500 million debt, that completion required approval from the Defence Ministry's export control agency, and that Lavie's involvement would end. Luxembourg register notices record that on 8 October 2025 Dufresne Holding transferred all of NorthPole Newco's shares to Ohad Shazar Shalem Schremer, who replaced Lavie as its manager; the retained documents do not name the investors or record the agency's decision. ^{1 2 3}

analysisIsraeli press reported in November 2025 that the group led by Simonds had bought a controlling stake in October and that NSO's founders, Niv Karmi, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie, were no longer shareholders; the investors other than Simonds were not named. Israeli business reporting the same month said the change of control took place through the purchase of the company's debt by a new group whose members were not published, leading to Lavie's removal and the appointment of David M. Friedman (below), and that Luxembourg filings of late October and early November named Schremer, a lawyer, as a director of NorthPole Newco, OSY Technologies and Q Cyber Technologies S.à r.l. The debt purchase itself does not appear in the retained register notices. ^{4 5}

analysisAccording to his witness biography published by the US House of Representatives, former US ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman was appointed on 10 November 2025 executive chairman of the Luxembourg holding company that owns NSO Group and of a Delaware subsidiary; the biography does not name the companies, and a register notice published on 30 December 2025 records his appointment as a manager of OSY Technologies from 15 December 2025. In an interview reported in November 2025, Friedman said he would make the case to the Trump administration that NSO's technology could help make Americans safer and would seek to sell its products to US law enforcement agencies, that "the NSO of today is a far more careful company in how it licenses its technology than it was five six years ago", and that "this change of control and ownership brings with it sufficient capital to maintain the business". ^{6 7 4}

analysisNSO Group's transparency report for 2025 says the group entered a new phase in 2025 following a change in ownership and Friedman's appointment as executive chairman of its holding company, without naming the new owners. Press in January 2026 reported that chief executive Yaron Shohat had also stepped down and that Lavie, the last founder still involved, had left. ^{8 9}

analysisA notice published on 7 November 2025 records that, by decisions of NorthPole Newco's sole shareholder of 8 October 2025, Lavie resigned as manager and Schremer was appointed for an indefinite term, and that on 8 October Dufresne Holding (B275054) transferred all of its shares in NorthPole Newco, 100% of the capital, to Schremer, who became sole shareholder. Notices published on 28 and 30 October 2025 record Schremer as a manager of Q Cyber Technologies S.à r.l. and of OSY Technologies from 8 October 2025 and Lavie's removal from both boards, with Anthony Michael Levy remaining a manager of each; at Q Cyber Technologies S.à r.l. Levy is also delegate for day-to-day management since 5 June 2023, and Levy's OSY mandate was renewed. ^{1 2 3}

analysisA notice published on 22 December 2025 records that on 8 December 2025, by realisation of a pledge followed by a private sale, all of NorthPole Newco's shares held by Schremer, four classes representing 100% of the capital, were transferred to Hippocrene Ventures LLC, a Delaware limited liability company registered under number 10338240, which became sole shareholder; the notice does not name the pledgee. A notice published on 26 February 2026 records that under a share purchase agreement of 30 December 2025 Hippocrene Ventures sold all of NorthPole Newco's shares (559,737,894 class A and 558,376,950 each of classes B, C and D) back to Schremer, who became sole shareholder with effect from that date. ^{4 5}

analysisLuxembourg business press reported in April 2026 that Lavie had been removed as a director of three key Luxembourg entities within ten days, Q Cyber Technologies on 28 October 2025, OSY Technologies on 30 October and NorthPole Newco on 7 November; those are the publication dates of the notices, which give 8 October 2025 as the effective date. It added that on 30 December 2025 Hippocrene Ventures transferred NorthPole Newco's entire capital to an individual, and that on 26 February 2026 NorthPole Newco recorded a further change in shareholding and in its legal form; an aggregator summary of the register shows a change of shareholders on that date. The notice published on 26 February 2026 is the one recording the 30 December sale; no retained document shows a later owner or the change of legal form. ^{6 7}