Symantec Consumer Division Sale To Equity Firms – Report

A couple of private equity groups have reportedly made a takeover offer for the remainder of the once mighty security vendor Symantec.

According to the Wall Street Journal, private equity firms Permira and Advent International have proposed a deal to buy the consumer business of Symantec for more than $16 billion.

It comes after Broadcom agreed last month to purchase the enterprise division of the veteran security specialist, for a hefty $10.7bn ($8.8bn) in cash.

Symantec consumer

According to the WSJ, Permira and Advent recently approached Symantec proposing a takeover deal valuing Symantec at $26 to $27 a share.

This deal would perserve the sale of its enterprise business to Broadcom, and could reduce the tax bill for Symantec shareholders, the WSJ report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The WSJ report did add that there is no guarantee a deal will happen, but it could see the private equity groups acquiring the whole Symantec business and then selling the enterprise division to Broadcom.

Or it could involve waiting for the enterprise deal to close and then acquiring the consumer unit.

The WSJ reported that Permira and Advent had also considered a deal for all of Symantec and were close to inking one before the talks fell apart.

Symantec enterprise

Broadcom’s attempt to acquire Symantec had entirely collapsed in mid July, after the two firms were reportedly unable to reach agreement on the acquisition price for the whole of Symantec.

The firms had reportedly been in “advanced talks” about the acquisition weeks prior to that, and the deal had expected to be announced in late July.

Chipmaker Broadcom has previously acquired Brocade and CA Technologies.

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