Last month, we reported that Broadcom was close to a buying Symantec for $15 billion. Now, the firm has announced that it has reached an agreement with Symantec to buy its enterprise security business for $10.7 billion, with the deal expected to close in Q1 2020.
Broadcom said that the acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security portfolio will “significantly” expand its infrastructure software footprint as it attempts to become one of the leading firms in the sector. The newly gained portfolio will give Symantec solutions for endpoint security, web security services, cloud security, and data loss prevention.
Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadcom, said:
“[Mergers and acquisitions have] played a central role in Broadcom"s growth strategy and this transaction represents the next logical step in our strategy following our acquisitions of Brocade and CA Technologies. Symantec"s enterprise security business is recognized as an established leader in the growing enterprise security space and has developed some of the world"s most powerful defense solutions that protect against today"s evolving threat landscape and secure data from endpoint to cloud. We look forward to expanding our footprint of mission critical infrastructure software within our core Global 2000 customer base.”
As more people come online and upload more and more personal data, cyber attacks are expected to grow as the financial incentive for hackers grows. A recent report from Global Market Insights suggests that the cybersecurity market is set to exceed $300 billion by 2024 so Broadcom could benefit greatly from its most recent purchase.