NortonLifeLock Inc. said late Tuesday it will acquire Czech Republic-based cybersecurity company Avast PLC in a stock-based deal the company values at more than $8 billion.
Based on its closing price of $27.20 on July 13 before rumors began to swirl, NortonLifeLock
NLOK,
+1.09%
said the deal is valued at $8.1 billion to $8.6 billion depending on Avast
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+2.92%
shareholder elections.
NortonLifeLock shares rose more than 5% in after-hours activity, following a 1.1% gain in the regular session to close at $24.15, which would value the deal between $7.19 billion and $7.64 billion, or $7.37 billion to $7.83 billion should the stock trade at its after-hours level.
“This transaction is a huge step forward for consumer Cyber Safety and will ultimately enable us to achieve our vision to protect and empower people to live their digital lives safely,” said Vincent Pilette, NortonLifeLock’s chief executive, in a statement. “With this combination, we can strengthen our Cyber Safety platform and make it available to more than 500 million users.”
Following the close of the deal, NortonLifeLock will have dual headquarters in Prague and Tempe, Ariz. The resulting company will be led by Pilette as chief executive, and Avast CEO Ondřej Vlček is expected to serve as president.
NortonLifeLock said it expects the deal to drive double-digit earnings-per-share growth within a year, and double-digit revenue growth long term.
Back in July, The Wall Street Journal reported that NortonLifeLock and Avast were in talks for a deal.
NortonLifeLock is the result of Symantec Corp.’s $10.7 billion sale of its enterprise security business to Broadcom Inc.
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-0.50%,
which closed on Nov. 4, 2019.
