Dive Brief:
- Avast Software announced it intends to buy AVG Technologies for $1.3 billion, PC World reported on Thursday.
- The two companies are viewed as rivals in the security software arena.
- AVG supplies Internet security applications for enterprises and consumers.
Dive Insight:
Avast CEO Vincent Stickler said the deal will also help the company better protect users and expand enterprise protection and support. The deal will expand Avast’s reach to over 400 million endpoints.
“We will have over 250 million PC/Mac users enabling us to gather even more threat data to improve the protection to our users,” said Stickler in a company blog, noting also that the combined company “will be better able to support our business users with a larger geographic footprint, better technical support, and the best technologies from our two companies.”
AVG’s revenue from its traditional desktop security product business has been weakening.
The security software market has seen significant turmoil in the last few months. Last week, Computerworld reported that Intel is looking into selling its security business, which is rooted in the company’s $7.7 billion purchase of McAfee in 2010. If the deal materializes, it could be one of the largest to date in the cybersecurity sector, predicted The Financial Times.
Earlier this month, Symantec Corp. agreed to buy Blue Coat Systems Inc. for $4.65 billion and Bloomberg reported that security firm FireEye had hired Morgan Stanley to help field interested buyers. The potential sale is now off the table, sources said.
