NortonLifeLock agrees to buy cybersecurity provider Avast
Companies put value of stock-and-cash deal at $8.1 billion to $8.6 billion
NortonLifeLock Inc. agreed to acquire and combine with cybersecurity firm Avast PLC in a cash-and-stock deal that would extend the U.S. company’s focus on consumer software.
Shareholders of Prague-based Avast will receive a combination of cash and newly issued shares of NortonLifeLock in a deal that has an equity value between $8.1 billion and $8.6 billion, the companies said.
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The Wall Street Journal reported in July that the two companies were in advanced discussions.
NortonLifeLock, based in Tempe, Ariz., was previously known as Symantec Corp. before it closed a $10.7 billion deal to sell its enterprise-security business to Broadcom Inc. in 2019. The company now mainly sells Norton antivirus software and LifeLock identity-theft protection products to consumers.
Avast primarily makes both free and premium security software for consumers such as desktop security and server and mobile-device protection. Its shares trade in London.
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"With this combination, we can strengthen our cyber safety platform and make it available to more than 500 million users," Vincent Pilette, NortonLifeLock’s chief executive officer, said in prepared remarks.
Mr. Pilette will become CEO of the combined company, while NortonLifeLock finance chief Natalie Derse will continue in that role after the merger. Avast CEO Ondřej Vlček intends to join the company as president and become a board member. Avast co-founder Pavel Baudiš also plans to join NortonLifeLock’s board as an independent director.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVASF | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| NLOK | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
Avast shareholders have two options as part of the deal. One entails receiving $2.37 in cash and 0.19 shares in NortonLifeLock for every share of Avast they own. The other choice includes $7.61 in cash and 0.03 shares of NortonLifeLock. The stock exchange ratio is based on NortonLifeLock’s closing price of $27.20 on July 13, the day before news of deal talks was reported.
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The companies expect the merger to drive double-digit per-share earnings growth in the first full year following the transaction’s completion and it expects to generate around $3.5 billion in revenue.
The deal is expected to close in the middle of next year.
Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com