Private equity firms Permira and Advent International are interested in acquiring Symantec’s consumer business for more than $16 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to WSJ, Permira and Advent’s offer values the cybersecurity firm at $26-27 per share. The firms would acquire Symantec’s consumer business, which includes the Norton brand, while preserving the sale of its enterprise unit to Broadcom.
However, it’s unclear if the private equity firms would acquire Symantec and then sell the enterprise unit to Broadcom as agreed, or if they would wait for the Broadcom deal to be completed and then acquire the remaining part of the business.
WSJ reported that Permira and Advent had been interested in buying the cybersecurity firm before the Broadcom deal was made, but they couldn’t reach an agreement.
The value of Symantec stock increased over 4 percent on Friday, to more than $24.50, after WSJ broke the news.
News of Broadcom’s interest in Symantec broke in early July, but less than two weeks later it was reported that acquisition talks had stalled due to a disagreement over price. Broadcom’s acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise unit for $10.7 billion was announced officially on August 8.
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