(Alliance News) - Consumer cyber safety company NortonLifeLock Inc on Tuesday said it has agreed with digital security firm Avast PLC on the terms of a merger.
A deal is in the form of a cash and share takeover offer by Norton for Avast. Under the terms of the merger, Avast shareholders will be entitled to receive a combination of cash consideration and newly issued shares in Norton.
Based on Norton's closing share price of USD27.20 on July 13, being the last trading day for NortonLifeLock shares before combination talks were revealed on July 14, the merger values Avast between USD8.1 billion and USD8.6 billion, depending on Avast shareholders' elections.
Avast shares closed 1.2% lower in London on Tuesday at 568.56 pence each, while Norton stock closed up 1.1% in New York at USD24.15 but lost 0.7% in after-hours trading.
Norton said it and Avast believe that the merger has "compelling strategic and financial rationale and represents an attractive opportunity to create a new, industry-leading consumer cyber safety business".
"With this combination, we can strengthen our Cyber Safety platform and make it available to more than 500 million users. We will also have the ability to further accelerate innovation to transform Cyber Safety," said Vincent Pilette, chief executive of Norton.
"Through our well-established brands, greater geographic diversification and access to a larger global user base, the combined businesses will be poised to access the significant growth opportunity that exists worldwide," added Ondrej Vlcek, CEO of Avast.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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