Broadcom Nears Deal to Buy Symantec's Enterprise Business
August 08 2019 - 7:34AM
Dow Jones News
By WSJ City
Broadcom is nearing a deal to buy Symantec's enterprise business
after its attempted purchase of the entire cybersecurity firm fell
apart. The deal could value the Symantec division at around $10bn,
people familiar said.Shares of Symantec spiked after the market
closed Wednesday, rising 13% to $23.15 after The Wall Street
Journal reported on the latest deal talks. They have since hit
$23.30.
KEY FACTS
-- A deal could be announced as early as Thursday, when Symantec reports its
results.
-- But talks could still fall apart or the time frame could be extended.
-- The unit serves businesses and accounts for roughly half of Symantec's
$5bn in annual revenue.
-- Broadcom wants to focus on diversifying beyond its core chip business and
push into software.
-- The deal would be big for Symantec. Its market value is about $12.6bn but
it has more than $2bn of net debt.
-- It has had a string of difficulties in recent years, including accounting
issues and executive departures.
Why This Matters
Deals between chip makers and cybersecurity companies haven't
always produced the desired results. Intel bought McAfee in 2010
for $7.68bn. McAfee's security products never combined with Intel's
hardware to generate the revenue Intel had hoped for.
Meanwhile technology has been the busiest sector for mergers and
acquisitions world-wide this year, as companies jockey for position
in a rapidly changing industry landscape. There have been $455.9bn
of tech deals so far this year, up from $397.2bn in the same period
of 2018, according to Dealogic.
A fuller story is available on WSJ.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 08, 2019 07:19 ET (11:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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