The sale will enable McAfee to become a pure play consumer cybersecurity company

1200px-New_McAfee_Headquarters

McAfee headquarters in Santa Clara. (Credit: Adc1999 at English Wikipedia)

Cybersecurity company McAfee has agreed to divest its enterprise business to a consortium led by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group (STG) in an all-cash deal worth $4bn.

McAfee’s enterprise business offers device-to-cloud cybersecurity solutions.

In the fiscal year 2020, the business earned $1.3bn in net revenue. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the business reported a 5% growth year-over-year at $351m.

The sale is being taken up by McAfee to become a pure play consumer cybersecurity company. Besides, it would help the computer security company cut down its debt by nearly $1bn.

It comes less than six months after McAfee had raised $740m in an initial public offering (IPO) that marked the company’s return to the stock market.

At the closing of the deal, McAfee will retain its brand. The company will continue to focus on providing solutions to protect consumers and being a major provider of personal security for consumers.

McAfee president and CEO Peter Leav said: “STG is the right partner to continue strengthening our Enterprise business, and this outcome is a testament to the business’ industry-leading solutions and most notably to the outstanding contributions of our employees.

“This transaction will allow McAfee to singularly focus on our consumer business and to accelerate our strategy to be a leader in personal security for consumers.”

The enterprise business will be re-branded, which is likely to happen in the coming months, said the company.

Symphony Technology Group managing partner William Chisholm said: “McAfee is one of the most iconic brands in enterprise security and has a reputation for innovation, quality and leadership.

“We are fully committed to driving the business’ strategy to be the leading device-to-cloud cybersecurity company by partnering with McAfee’s existing world-class team to continue delivering exceptional performance to enterprises and government clients globally.”

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Last year, Symphony Technology Group through a consortium acquired RSA, a cybersecurity and risk management organisation, from Dell Technologies, for about $2bn.