Symantec sells Veritas to Carlyle for USD 8 billion

Nieuws IT Wereld 11 AUG 2015
Symantec sells Veritas to Carlyle for USD 8 billion
Symantec has agreed to sell its information management business, known as Veritas, to an investor group led by the Carlyle Group together with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for USD 8 billion. Veritas offers a range of software and systems to help businesses organize, manage and store their information. It had revenues of USD 2.4 billion in 2014 and serves 75 percent of the Fortune 500 countries. Symantec announced last October the decision to spin off the information management business under the name Veritas and consider strategic options for the activities, so it could focus on its core security software business. 

With the sale to Carlyle, Symantec said it expects to receive a net USD 6.3 billion in cash proceeds, which it will use for capital returns to shareholders as well as investing in its security business. The company already announced a USD 1.5 billion increase in its share buyback programme to a total USD 2.6 billion and said it will maintain its quarterly dividend of 15 cents a share. The sale of Veritas is expected to close by year-end. 

The Carlyle Group announced separately that Bill Coleman and Bill Krause will become CEO and Chairman, respectively, of Veritas upon closing of the transaction. Coleman is a member of Symantec's board and was the founder of BEA Systems and a Sun Microsystems executive. Krause is the former CEO of 3Com and works at Carlyle as an operating executive at its Technology division. 

Categories:

IT,  Internet

Companies:

Symantec

Regions:

Wereld

Tags:

IT - applications, M&A buyouts & divestments

Related Articles

WERELD 13 MAY 2016

Symantec to cut 1,200 positions, USD 400 mln in costs

Symantec has reported results for its fiscal fourth quarter to 1 April, with revenues slipping to USD 873 million from 899 million the year before, in line with company guidance. CFO Thomas Seifert also said the company was making significant progress on its USD 400 million efficiency programme, aiming to eliminated stranded costs from the Veritas divestiture, rationalise corporate infrastructure and simplify its Enterprise Security portfolio. During a conference call after the released of its results, Syma

WERELD 5 FEB 2016

Symantec welcomes USD 500 mln, board member from Silver Lake

Symantec has received a USD 500 million investment from Silver Lake, with Ken Hao, a managing partner at the private equity firm, taking a seat on the company's board, the Wall Street Journal reported. With the money, Symantec will buy back more shares, cut costs and push forward on a transformation plan it launched in 2014. It also plans to return USD 5.5 billion in capital to shareholders in the coming year, also using proceeds from the recent sale of its Veritas data-storage and recovery business. Activi

WERELD 20 JAN 2016

Carlyle cuts price for Symantec's Veritas

Carlyle Group has revised down the price it will pay for Symantec's Veritas information management business. Under the amended terms, the purchase price will be USD 7.4 billion, down from USD 8 billion in the first agreement announced in August. The companies said the lower price was due to "uncertainties" that had developed regarding the transaction; further details were not provided. Symantec and Carlyle also agreed to increase the amount of offshore cash remaining in Veritas from USD 200 million to USD 4

EUROPA 12 NOV 2015

Azlan, Veritas enter distribution agreement for Europe

Azlan, a Tech Data Europe brand, entered into a pan-European distribution agreement with Veritas Technologies to offer software products from information management company Veritas to resellers in 13 countries across Europe. Veritas Technologies provides backup and recovery products and was formed following the completion of the previously announced separation of Symantec into two companies. 

WERELD 5 NOV 2015

Symantec prepares for separation, Q3 meets expectations

Symantec reported revenues for its fiscal second quarter to September down 7 percent year-on-year to USD 1.498 billion. The company's operating margin dropped to 13.5 percent from 21.5 percent a year ago, and net profit was down 36 percent to USD 156 million. Results were depressed by the stronger US dollar, but met the company's forecast. Adjusted EPS was better than expected at USD 0.44, helped by the ongoing share buyback at the company. Symantec said it plans to accelerate the buyback, ahead of the expe

WERELD 27 OCT 2015

Symantec komt met nieuwe security-oplossingen

Symantec introduceert vandaag Symantec Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), een oplossing die geavanceerde bedreigingen op controlepunten kan opsporen en oplossen. Symantec ATP legt verbanden tussen verdachte activiteiten op alle controlepunten en geeft prioriteit aan die incidenten die het grootste risico voor een organisatie vormen. Zodra er een ernstige bedreiging is vastgesteld, kan deze nu snel worden geïsoleerd en kunnen nieuwe aanvallen worden geblokkeerd. Symantec Advanced Threat Protection is leverbaa

WERELD 22 SEP 2015

Symantec names Rogers as CMO

Security software group Symantec appointed Dan Rogers to CMO. Reporting to Symantec CEO Michael A. Brown, Rogers will oversee the company's marketing efforts, including brand awareness, digital marketing, demand generation and events. Since 2013, Rogers has been CMO of the EMEA-region at Salesforce, where he contributed to significant increases in revenue and unaided brand awareness. Prior to that, he was head of global product marketing for Amazon Web Services, and previously served in senior marketing and

WERELD 11 AUG 2015

Symantec quarterly results fall short of guidance

Symantec reported revenues for its fiscal first quarter to June down 14 percent from a year earlier to USD 1.50 billion, at the bottom of its guidance. Adjusting for currency effects and an extra calendar week in the year-earlier period, the company said revenues were flat. Its reported operating margin fell more than expected, to 13.4 percent from 18.6 a year ago, and net profit halved to USD 117 million from USD 236 million. Adjusted EPS fell 11 percent year-on-year to USD 0.40, also missing the company's

WERELD 8 JUL 2015

Veritas unveils products for data centres

Veritas, Symantec's information management business, has announced new offerings for rapidly evolving enterprise datacentres, as well as significant upgrades to its core portfolio of backup and information management products. The set of product enhancements and new solutions showcase a fundamentally different approach to delivering data and services across multiple cloud environments. Enhancements to current products enable simpler management in hybrid cloud infrastructures and extended protection for VMwa

WERELD 8 JUL 2015

Symantec to sell Veritas to Carlyle - report

Symantec is in talks to sell its Veritas data storage business to private equity firm Carlyle, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Bloomberg reported earlier that Symantec was nearing a deal to sell Veritas to Carlyle for between USD 7 billion and USD 8 billion, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Symantec has been seeking buyers for Veritas for several months but interest from potential buyers had been limited because of a tax burden associated with splitting the company. The company ha

WERELD 13 APR 2015

Symantec considers sale of Veritas - report

Symantec is exploring a sale of its Veritas data-storage and recovery business as an alternative to its plan to split into two publicly traded companies, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The company in recent weeks contacted private-equity firms and possible industry bidders about buying Veritas, the report said. The business could fetch more than USD 8 billion in a sale, one source said. Symantec bought Veritas in 2005 in an all-stock deal valued around USD 13.5 billion. Last y

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.