Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) made waves on Monday morning following news of an acquisition. The company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Blue Coat for roughly $4.651 billion in cash.
The deal was approved by both boards of directors and it is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2016.
Going forward, Greg Clark, current CEO of Blue Coat, will be appointed CEO of Symantec and join the Symantec board upon closing of the transaction.
Blue Coat is the number one market share leader and share gainer in web Security, with a widely recognized portfolio of integrated technologies serving as a trusted platform to deliver Cloud Generation Security to more than 15,000 customers worldwide. For Blue Coat’s fiscal year ending April 30, 2016, revenue totaled $755 million, with 17% year-over-year growth, supported by new products and new customers. At the same time, the company had non-GAAP operating margins of 22% and cash flow from operations of $135 million.
Blue Coat was in line to have an initial public offering, but it appears that Symantec has preempted the move.
Dan Schulman, chairman of Symantec, commented:
With this transaction, we will have the scale, portfolio and resources necessary to usher in a new era of innovation designed to help protect large customers and individual consumers against insider threats and sophisticated cybercriminals. Together, we will be best positioned to address the ever-evolving threat landscape, the massive changes introduced by the shift to mobile and cloud, and the challenges created by regulatory and privacy concerns. Greg and the entire Blue Coat leadership team have done an exceptional job of strengthening, growing and scaling their business. In addition to a proven track record of delivering scale and profitable growth, Greg brings significant leadership experience, deep security expertise and a history of successfully integrating companies into a single portfolio; he is the right person to lead Symantec as we advance our position as the leader in cybersecurity.
Shares of Symantec were last seen trading up 7% at $18.50 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $18.90 and a 52-week trading range of $16.14 to $24.59.
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