Symantec is said to have attracted the interest of private equity companies Permira and Advent International. These two organisations want to take over the security company for more than 16 billion dollars.
The security company had previously agreed to the sale of a large part of its practices. Permira and Advent International now appear to be interested in this, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The two companies are said to have approached Symantec for a takeover deal for 26 to 27 dollars per share, writes Reuters. In exchange, Permira and Advent International will take over the consumer department of the security company.
Symantec’s consumer division consists of the Norton antivirus software and LifeLock products to combat identity theft.
Acquisition by Broadcom
However, it is not yet known exactly how the deal will work. There is also no guarantee that it will actually happen. It is clear that the acquisition of the enterprise security portfolio by Broadcom will continue under the deal. Broadcom took over this portfolio in August for 10.7 billion dollars.
With the acquisition Broadcom wants to expand its activities beyond semiconductors and storage. This is mainly due to the strong competition and the impact of the trade dispute between China and the US. As a result, the company is struggling to sustain its growth in its primary market.
If the deal between Symantec and Permira and Advent International does go ahead, several scenarios are possible. There is a chance that the two companies will wait for the acquisition by Broadcom to be completed before taking over the consumer department, or will do so while the acquisition of Broadcom is still ongoing.
Will Symantec continue to exist?
Symantec would only have consumer products left after the acquisition by Broadcom, but these will disappear with the second acquisition as well. Whether the Symantec brand name will continue to exist is as yet unclear.
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