Under the agreement, the investor group will acquire all outstanding shares of McAfee common stock for $26 per share in an all-cash transaction worth about $12bn on an equity value basis

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

An investor group of private equity firms Advent International, Permira and other investors has agreed to acquire software security firm McAfee in a deal valued at more than $14bn, including debt.

The other investors include Crosspoint Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC Private Limited, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Under the agreement, the investor group will acquire all outstanding shares of McAfee common stock for $26 per share in an all-cash transaction worth about $12bn on an equity value basis and more than $14bn on an enterprise value basis following the repayment of McAfee debt.

The purchase price of the transaction represents a premium of about 22.6% over McAfee’s closing share price of $21.21 on 4 November 2021. Once the deal is closed, the investor group will assume ownership of McAfee.

Upon closing of the transaction, the security firm’s stock will not be listed on any public securities exchange.

In 2017, TPG collaborated with Intel to create McAfee from Intel’s core operations to establish a pure-play cybersecurity company. McAfee completed its initial public offering in 2020, with TPG and Intel remaining as shareholders in the company.

McAfee president and CEO Peter Leav said: “This transaction is a testament to McAfee’s market-leading online protection solutions, our talented employees, and outstanding customers and partners.

“We want to thank our employees for their continued hard work and commitment to McAfee. We are thrilled to be partnering with premier firms who truly understand the cybersecurity landscape and have a proven track record of success.”

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are acting as financial advisors to the software security firm on the transaction and Ropes & Gray and Moulton Moore Stella are serving as legal counsel.

JP Morgan Securities, BofA Securities, Barclays Capital and Citigroup Global Markets are serving as financial advisors, with Bryant Stibel Group serving as strategic operating advisors to the investor group.

The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to complete in the first half of 2022.