The British regulator has a deadline of 16 March 2022 to announce its phase 1 decision
Avast headquarters in Prague. (Credit: JiriMatejicek/Wikipedia.org)
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a phase 1 probe into the previously announced $8.6bn acquisition of cybersecurity firm Avast by NortonLifeLock.
The British competition regulator said that it is considering if the proposed deal if executed will lead to the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002. If that is the case, then the regulator will investigate if the creation of that situation is likely to result in a considerable reduction of competition within any market or markets for goods or services in the UK.
To help it with the assessment, the CMA is seeking comments on the proposed transaction from any interested party by 2 February 2022.
The regulator has set itself a deadline of 16 March 2022 to announce its phase 1 decision.
The cash-cum-stock deal was announced in August 2021. It had been proposed to be effected through a UK court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.
The proposed merger of NortonLifeLock and Avast is anticipated to form a major player in the consumer cyber safety business. The combined entity will serve over 500 million users and will have close to $3.5bn in revenue, said the parties at the time of signing the deal.
NortonLifeLock is based in the US, while Avast is headquartered in the Czech Republic.
Avast, which offers digital security and privacy products under the Avast and AVG brands, is said to have over 435 million users online. NortonLifeLock, on the other hand, has products like Norton AntiVirus, Norton 360, Norton Secure VPN, and Norton Mobile Security in its portfolio.
In November 2021, the deal was cleared by the US Department of Justice. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2022.