The founders of Israeli spyware company NSO Group bought the firm back from U.S. private equity firm Francisco Partners, with support from Novalpina, a European private equity firm, and New York investment bank Jefferies Group. The sale follows a highly turbulent month for the controversial cyberweapons firm, whose powerful spyware, Pegasus –capable of taking over smartphones–has been used by a number of governments to target dissidents, journalists, and lawyers.

In recent weeks, news reports have detailed ties between Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube and an investigation into critics of NSO. In January, Citizen Lab, a digital rights watchdog, foiled a Black Cube-linked spy who was trying to glean information about investigations into NSO Group, but also bait researchers into making racist and anti-Israel remarks. Black Cube, which worked on behalf of Harvey Weinstein in an attempt to discredit his accusers, used similar tactics on lawyers handling lawsuits against NSO Group and against a London-based journalist covering the litigation. Black Cube and NSO have denied any involvement in the operation.

Related: Israeli spy firm reportedly targeted researchers probing hacks of dissidents

Specific terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the acquisition includes an investment of about $100 million by the co-founders, and reportedly values the company at nearly $1 billion. San Francisco-based Francisco Partners bought a 70 percent stake in NSO Group in 2014 for a reported $120 million.

In recent years, the private equity fund had been trying to sell the company without success. During that time, NSO Group’s troubles mounted, as Citizen Lab found that NSO’s software had been used by the United Arab Emirates to target the phone of now-imprisoned human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor. In 2018, Citizen Lab, working with international researchers, found that NSO spyware was being used by governments in Mexico, Panama, and other countries.

More recently, Montreal-based Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz filed a lawsuit against NSO Group alleging that its software had been used to spy on murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (NSO has denied that its software was involved.) In 2018, NSO’s software was also found on the phone of a staffer at Amnesty International, a human rights group that is a regular critic of NSO Group’s corporate ethics.

Francisco Partners’s sale of NSO Group comes amid continued fallout from Black Cube’s surveillance. As Fast Company recently learned, lawyers and other individuals targeted by Black Cube intend to file lawsuits in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and Israel against the firm, after an Israeli TV station reported on its role.