Broadcom Acquires Symantec Enterprise Unit For £8.8bn

Broadcom has confirmed the acquisition of the enterprise division of veteran security specialist Symantec, for a hefty $10.7bn ($8.8bn) in cash.

The acquisitions continues Broadcom’s efforts to reinvent itself as “one of the world’s leading infrastructure technology companies”.

Earlier this week it had been reported that Broadcom was once again its “advanced talks” to acquire Symantec, but only its enterprise business division this time.

Symantec acquisition

Broadcom’s attempt to acquire Symantec 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.

But now Broadcom has confirmed that it is to acquire the enterprise security business of Symantec.

“M&A has played a central role in Broadcom’s growth strategy and this transaction represents the next logical step in our strategy following our acquisitions of Brocade and CA Technologies,” said Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom.

“Symantec’s enterprise security business is recognized as an established leader in the growing enterprise security space and has developed some of the world’s most powerful defense solutions that protect against today’s evolving threat landscape and secure data from endpoint to cloud,” he added.

Regulatory approvals

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of Broadcom’s fiscal year 20201, subject to regulatory approvals in the US, EU and Japan.

Broadcom will also own and incorporate the Symantec brand name into the Broadcom portfolio, leaving the consumer side possibly rebranding as Norton.

And Broadcom may be somewhat anxious about the regulatory approvals.

In March 2018, President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom’s attempted hostile takeover of Qualcomm, and ended what would have been the largest takeover on record in the high-tech industry, valued at an estimated $140 billion (£100bn).

President Trump blocked that deal on national security grounds.

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