Cybersecurity firm McAfee Corp. (NASDAQ:MCFE) has agreed to be acquired by a group of private equity firms in a deal valued at more than $14 billion, the company announced Monday.
The move will take the company private just over one year after it went public through an initial public offering (IPO).
The investor group, led by Advent International, and supported by Permira Advisers, Crosspoint Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC Private Limited, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment, will pay $26 per share in an all-cash transaction to acquire all outstanding shares of McAfee common stock.
The deal is valued at roughly $12 billion on an equity value basis, and more than $14 billion on an enterprise value basis after repayment of McAfee debt.
The transaction is yet another mark in a dizzying history for the company founded and tarnished by its late founder John McAfee.
After selling off its enterprise business to Symphony Technology Group in July 2021 for $4 billion, McAfee will continue operate as a pure-play consumer cybersecurity firm.
McAfee was acquired by Intel in 2010 for $7.68 billion and in 2014 the chipmaker announced that McAfee would become Intel Security. In 2016, Intel decided that McAfee would again become an independent company after TPG Capital acquired a 51% stake.
McAfee completed its initial public offering last year, with TPG and Intel remaining as shareholders in the company.
Related: Antivirus Pioneer John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison

For more than 10 years, Mike Lennon has been closely monitoring the threat landscape and analyzing trends in the National Security and enterprise cybersecurity space. In his role at SecurityWeek, he oversees the editorial direction of the publication and is the Director of several leading security industry conferences around the world.
More from Mike Lennon
- Video: How to Build Resilience Against Emerging Cyber Threats
- Webinar Today: Understanding Hidden Third-Party Identity Access Risks
- Watch on Demand: Supply Chain & Third-Party Risk Summit Sessions
- Virtual Event Today: Supply Chain & Third-Party Risk Summit
- Ferrari Says Ransomware Attack Exposed Customer Data
- Webinar Today: How to Build Resilience Against Emerging Cyber Threats
- Make Your Picks: Cyber Madness Bracket Challenge Starts Today
- Cyber Madness Bracket Challenge – Register to Play
Latest News
- 3CX Confirms Supply Chain Attack as Researchers Uncover Mac Component
- UK Introduces Mass Surveillance With Online Safety Bill
- Musk, Scientists Call for Halt to AI Race Sparked by ChatGPT
- Malware Hunters Spot Supply Chain Attack Hitting 3CX Desktop App
- LeapXpert Banks $22M Funding to Secure Corporate Messaging With Consumer Apps
- Blockchain Security Firm True I/O Raises $9 Million
- Spera Banks $10 Million to Tackle Identity and Access Sprawl
- OpenAI Patches Account Takeover Vulnerabilities in ChatGPT
