McAfee is being acquired by a six-entity investor group in a $14 billion deal that will take the company private.
What Happened: The buyer entity in the transaction, Condor BidCo, will acquire all outstanding shares of the cybersecurity company’s common stock for $26 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $12 billion on an equity value basis and over $14 billion on an enterprise value basis after giving effect to the repayment of McAfee debt.
The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 22.6% over McAfee’s closing share price of $21.21 on Nov. 4, the last trading day prior to the transaction’s announcement.
The investor group consists of Advent International, Permira Advisers LLC, Crosspoint Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC Private Limited, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
What’s Next: The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022, pending approval by McAfee shareholders and regulatory agencies, as well as clearance by the Department of the Treasury’s committee on foreign investment in the United States.
“This transaction is a testament to McAfee’s market-leading online protection solutions, our talented employees, and outstanding customers and partners,” said McAfee president and CEO Peter Leav. “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.”
The company was founded in 1987 as McAfee Associates. Founder John McAfee resigned from the company in 1994. Intel acquired the company for $7.68 billion in 2010 and formed a joint venture partnership with TPG that made McAfee an independent cybersecurity company.
McAfee conducted an initial public offering in October 2020 that raised $740 million; the company had been publicly traded prior to the Intel acquisition.
Price Action: McAfee’s stock traded around $25.60 at 1:20 p.m. Eastern standard time.
This story originally appeared on Benzinga. © 2021 Benzinga.com.
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