Security Experts:

Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Endpoint Security

McAfee to be Taken Private in $14 Billion Private Equity Deal

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.

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.

RelatedAntivirus Pioneer John McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison

Written By

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.

Click to comment

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join this webinar to learn best practices that organizations can use to improve both their resilience to new threats and their response times to incidents.

Register

Join this live webinar as we explore the potential security threats that can arise when third parties are granted access to a sensitive data or systems.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Application Security

Cycode, a startup that provides solutions for protecting software source code, emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday with $4.6 million in seed funding.

Management & Strategy

SecurityWeek examines how a layoff-induced influx of experienced professionals into the job seeker market is affecting or might affect, the skills gap and recruitment...

Funding/M&A

Twenty-one cybersecurity-related M&A deals were announced in December 2022.

Management & Strategy

Industry professionals comment on the recent disruption of the Hive ransomware operation and its hacking by law enforcement.

CISO Strategy

SecurityWeek spoke with more than 300 cybersecurity experts to see what is bubbling beneath the surface, and examine how those evolving threats will present...

CISO Strategy

Varied viewpoints as related security concepts take on similar traits create substantial confusion among security teams trying to evaluate and purchase security technologies.

Management & Strategy

Tens of cybersecurity companies have announced cutting staff over the past year, in some cases significant portions of their global workforce.