NortonLifeLock on Monday announced an all-cash $360 million offer to pick up German anti-virus company Avira in order to shore up its suite of consumer protection apps.
The deal offers an imminent foothold for NortonLifeLock in the European industry, where Avira is known to provide nearly 30 million in freemium anti-malware software. Avira reports over 1.5 paying customers and a white label organisation that drives over 500 million supplier smartphones with the software.
A topsy-turvy year for Avira, the contract begins. Avira was sold to private equity company Investcorp Technology Partners for $180 million eight months ago and the new transaction is further evidence of restructuring in the anti-malware and threat intelligence market.
Avira CEO Travis Witteveen and CTO Matthias Ollig will join the NortonLifeLock leadership team at the end of the transaction.
It is projected that the transaction will close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“I am delighted to welcome Avira to the Norton family,” said Vincent Pilette, Chief Executive Officer of NortonLifeLock. “We strive to bring cyber safety to everyone and acquiring Avira adds a growing business to our portfolio, accelerates our international growth and expands our go-to-market model with a leading freemium solution,” he said.
“Culturally, we are a great match. We share a relentless focus on delivering innovative products to customers and we always think customer-first. We cannot wait to get started with Avira,” Pilette said.
NortonLifeLock is itself a product of cybersecurity’s booming M&A operation. Broadcom paid $10.7 billion last November to buy the business unit of Symantec and that transaction involved the development of NortonLifeLock as the brand facing the market.
