San Francisco based equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC has approached Symantec Corp with a proposal of acquiring the Norton Antivirus software maker for an undisclosed amount. Though the deal is still in discussion stages, sources say that it can take a shape by early next year.
Meanwhile, Symantec seems to be busy in a spree of acquisitions, which includes USD 4.65 billion purchase of cybersecurity firm Blue Coat in 2016.
Internationally renowned news source Reuters was the first to make this matter public and as soon as this news popped out online, the shares of the security products maker jumped as much as 18 percent and closed at USD 22.54 per share.
A Merger and Acquisition valuing firm Wedbush Securities said that the purchase could see a valuation jump of Symantec shares in between USD 26 to USD 30.
As Bain Capital and Silver Lake are equity investors in Symantec, they could also be approached in this matter in coming days.
Industry analysts feel that Thoma Bravo is on a spree to rapidly consolidate the cybersecurity sector and so has taken the first step last month by announcing a USD 2.1 billion acquisition of Imperva Inc.
On Monday this week, the American private equity & growth capital firm announced the acquisition of Veracode from Broadcom Inc for $950 million USD.
Therefore, if Thoma Bravo succeeds in acquiring Symantec, then it could be leveraged as the largest buyout this year.
Note- Symantec market value as of today is $15 billion and the total debt is approximately $5 billion.
