NortonLifeLock snaps up Avira in all-cash deal

Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock has agreed to acquire Avira in an all-cash deal worth approximately $360 million. The acquisition will bring the firm, which focuses on consumer-centric privacy and antivirus solutions, under the Norton umbrella.

“I am delighted to welcome Avira to the Norton family,” said Vincent Pilette, CEO at NortonLifeLock. “We strive to bring cyber safety to everyone, and acquiring Avira adds a growing business to our portfolio, accelerates our international growth and expands our go-to-market model with a leading freemium solution. Culturally, we are a great match. We share a relentless focus on delivering innovative products to customers and we always think customer-first. We cannot wait to get started with Avira.”

The partnership is expected to unlock a number of strategic and financial advantages for the two firms. In particular, Avira will benefit from the scale that working with Norton will provide. Norton’s 360 antivirus package remains one of the most popular cybersecurity tools around, particularly for single desktop protection.

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Security synergies

Looking specifically at the potential synergies that will be acquired by working together, the Avira acquisition will help advance NortonLifeLock’s aim of bringing cybersecurity to everyone by leveraging Avira’s existing customer base. Similarly, it will accelerate Norton’s international growth across Europe and in key emerging markets.

In addition, NortonLifeLock will benefit from adding the Avira freemium business model to its existing portfolio, as well as the company’s 1.5 million paying customers. When the deal is finalized, which is expected in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2021, Avira CEO Travis Witteveen and CTO Matthias Ollig will join the NortonLifeLock leadership team.

For anyone that has not been paying attention, NortonLifeLock was previously known as Symantec until it was acquired by Broadcom last year. As yet, there is no news on whether Avira will undergo a similar re-brand.

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