Two months after antivirus company Avast Software s.r.o. announced that it would be acquiring its rival, AVG Technologies N.V., for $1.3 billion, the deal is done.

According to Avast, while the buyout of AVG has finally concluded, it will be up to a year before the company has been fully absorbed by Avast.

Both Avast and AVG have their origins in post-Soviet Prague in 1990s in what is now the Czech Republic. The two companies specialized in lightweight, consumer-grade antivirus software, which offered both a basic free version and a more feature-rich annual subscription version. Through its acquisition of AVG, Avast now controls a significant portion of the home antivirus market.

“The combined company now has over 400 million users, more than 40 percent of the world’s consumer PCs outside of China and the largest consumer security installed base in the world,” Vince Steckler, chief executive officer of Avast, said in a statement. The US is its No. 1 market, with 58 million users.

Avast noted in its statement that thanks to its acquisition, the company will be able to support deployments to larger organizations using AVG’s reseller base. The company also said that while AVG’s operations will be folded into Avast’s corporate structure over the next year, AVG’s security and antivirus products will still be offered under their existing brand.

“We want our customers to be reassured that whether you use an AVG product or an Avast product, we will continue to support you,” Steckler explained. “We are nothing without our customers and partners who have helped us get to where we are today.”

Image courtesy of AVG Technologies