UPDATED 21:12 EDT / NOVEMBER 05 2019

SECURITY

Symantec is now NortonLifeLock as Broadcom closes purchase of its enterprise business

Symantec Corp. is no longer Symantec, as the company changed its name following the completion today of Broadcom Inc.’s acquisition of its enterprise security business announced in August.

The company is now NortonLifeLock Inc., but its previous name will live on since Broadcom owns the rights to the Symantec name for the company’s previous enterprise security products. As a consequence, the company’s stock symbol changed from SYMC to NLOK on the Nasdaq exchange earlier today.

On its first day of trading, shares in the newly named company rose 1.85% to $24.19, with analysts such as Fatima Boolani at UBS rating the stock a buy with a target price of $27 per share.

The new NortonLifeLock says nearly 50 million consumers use its products and services and claims that it’s a global leader in consumer cybersecurity.

“The launch of NortonLifeLock today is a key step in our transformation towards a standalone, pure-play consumer cyber Safety business,” Vincent Pilette, NortonLifeLock’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “As we move through the transition period over the next twelve months, we will realign our cost structure for the company to drive revenue growth, cash flow generation and earnings power.”

For Broadcom, the completion of the $10.7 billion acquisition of Symantec’s enterprise security business delivers the computer chipmaker a wealth of cybersecurity services as well as a new revenue stream. The Symantec enterprise business brought in $2.3 billion in revenue for the company’s 2019 fiscal year through the sale of software that helps big companies detect cyberattacks across their networks and devices.

“Given the competitive challenges that exist within the company’s enterprise security business, coupled with a very low operating margin profile, we believe this transaction represented a very favorable outcome for SYMC,” Mizuho Bank Ltd. software analyst Gregg Moskowitz wrote in a note to clients.

The acquisition sits next to Broadcom’s acquisition of agile software development, DevOps and computer security software company CA Technologies Inc. for $19 billion in July 2018, part of the company’s ongoing move into software. Previous Broadcom acquisitions include network equipment maker Brocade Communications Systems Inc. for $5.9 billion in 2016.

“Today represents an important milestone as Symantec’s Enterprise Security business joins our other semiconductor and software franchises that together form the Broadcom platform,” Hock Tan, president and chief executive officer of Broadcom, said in a separate statement. “Symantec’s Enterprise Security business expands our footprint of mission-critical infrastructure software for the Global 2000.”

Broadcom shares rose today almost 3%, to $314.04 per share, the highest share price since May 3.

Image: NortonLifeLock

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