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Cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc. said it paid $200 million to acquire closely held iSight Partners Inc., a Dallas company that hires intelligence agents abroad to try to spot cyberattacks before they happen.

The deal is a bid by FireEye, shares of which have fallen roughly 75% in the past seven months, to round out its offerings to protect companies from hackers.

FireEye has sold hardware and software to detect and prevent cyberattacks since 2006. In 2014, it paid almost $1 billion for Mandiant Corp., which investigates attacks after they happen and ousts hackers from clients' systems. ISight gives FireEye a team focused on predicting attacks.

ISight says it has a network of 250 agents across 17 countries, including Ukraine, Brazil and India, who gather intelligence on potential cyberthreats. ISight Chief Executive John Watters said many of his company's agents, who cumulatively speak 29 languages, are former government or security officials in countries where they are based. They monitor online hacker forums and talk to local sources to identify potential threats or problem hackers.

That sort of on-the-ground reporting is a departure from some cybersecurity firms that use data and algorithms to try to anticipate attacks.

FireEye paid cash in the acquisition, which closed on Jan. 14. The deal includes another $75 million in cash and stock for iSight shareholders if the iSight unit reaches certain financial goals.

FireEye's shares have fallen amid concerns about its growth rate, punctuated by disappointing third-quarter results. The company blamed the weak results in part on less hacking activity in China—an assertion that was disputed by its rivals.

FireEye posted a loss of $403 million for the first nine months of 2015, as the company spent heavily on sales and marketing to continue its rapid expansion. Wednesday, FireEye said fourth-quarter revenue would be about $184 million, in the range of its prior guidance of $182 million to $190 million. The company said its billings and loss excluding certain expenses also would be in the range of its prior guidance.

FireEye Chief Executive Dave DeWalt said the company isn't struggling financially, with nearly $1.2 billion in cash before the iSight purchase. He said FireEye must invest now to continue to capitalize on demand for cybersecurity products and services.

FireEye said iSight, founded in 2007, had raised $50 million from investors including Mr. Watters, Bessemer Venture Partners and private-equity firm Blackstone Group.

Messrs. DeWalt and Watters said combining iSight's intelligence with FireEye's sensors would increase their clients' security.

For instance, before a series of cyberattacks against big retailers in 2014, Mr. Watters said iSight agents had been tracking the malicious code used in the attacks, which had been sold by a Russian hacker online for $6,000. Now, iSight will give such data to FireEye so its hardware recognizes the code if it tries to attack clients' systems.

Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 20, 2016 16:25 ET (21:25 GMT)

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