Blue Coat claims that it is the market share leader and share gainer in web security with a wide portfolio of integrated technologies serving as a trusted platform to deliver cloud generation security to more than 15,000 customers worldwide. With the acquisition of Blue Coat, Symantec aims to enhance its position to define the future of cyber-security and set the pace for industry-wide innovation.
What will the integration do?
Post acquisition, the combined company claims, that it will protect customers against more cyber threats, with best-in-breed protection, detection and remediation across endpoint, email, web, network and servers. This transaction will combine Symantec’s threat telemetry with Blue Coat’s networks and cloud security offerings to provide differentiated security solutions across hundreds of millions of endpoints and servers, and billions of email and web transactions.
According to Symantec, the combined entity will be helping enterprises securely embrace the cloud. Symantec will be able to deliver security for the cloud generation of users, data and apps, for the cloud, from the cloud and to the cloud. The company’s data loss prevention capabilities will be applied at the web proxy and to over 12,000 cloud applications. Bring together a formidable scale of investment in cyber R&D and threat research. These investments will span over 3,000 engineers and researchers, as well as nine Threat Response Centers.
Dan Schulman, Chairman, Symantec, says, “With this transaction, we will have the scale, portfolio and resources necessary to usher in a new era of innovation designed to help protect large customers and individual consumers against insider threats and sophisticated cybercriminals. Together, we will be best positioned to address the ever-evolving threat landscape, the massive changes introduced by the shift to mobile and cloud, and the challenges created by regulatory and privacy concerns.”
The integrated company will be headquartered in Mountain View, California and will be headed by executives from both the companies. According to Symantec, members of Blue Coat’s management team have not only agreed to join Symantec but also made the decision to rollover a substantial portion of their cash and options into the combined entity. The companies expect an efficient and successful integration given their complementary product offerings and distinct customer footprints, as well as Blue Coat’s management team’s track record of integration.
Greg Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Coat, says, “Today, Symantec keeps global enterprises, governments and individual consumers protected with solutions across threat protection, information protection and managed services. Likewise, Blue Coat is the trusted source for protecting billions of web transactions daily and is the clear leader in the growing cloud security market. Once combined, we will offer customers around the world, from large enterprises and governments to individual consumers, unrivaled threat protection and unmatched cloud security.”
Business and finance
According to the company, on a pro-forma, non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis, the combined company projects to have $4.4 billion in revenues in fiscal year 2016, of which 62 per cent would come from enterprise security. By the end of fiscal 2018, Symantec expects to realize $550 million in run-rate cost savings, of which $400 million will come from Symantec’s previously announced cost efficiency program.
In connection with the transaction, Silver Lake, the technology investment firm, has agreed to make an additional investment of $500 million in 2.0 per cent convertible notes due 2021 of Symantec, doubling its investment in Symantec to $1 billion. In addition, private equity form, Bain Capital, has also agreed to make an investment of $750 million in the convertible notes. The convertible notes are non-callable and unsecured, and have an initial conversion price of approximately $20.41 per share. In connection with this investment, David Humphrey, Managing Director, Bain Capital Private Equity, will be appointed to Symantec’s Board of Directors, at the close of the transaction.
Symantec claims that it will finance the transaction with cash on the balance sheet and $2.8 billion of new debt. The company is focused on paying down a significant portion of this debt within the next several years with cash on the balance sheet and through cash generation.
