Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock (formerly Symantec) has agreed today to acquire German antivirus maker Avira from Bahrain-based Investcorp Technology Partners in a $360 million all-cash deal.
The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the two companies said today in a joint press release.
Only eight months after getting acquired for $180 million, Avira is changing hands again, for double the value: NortonLifeLock today announced that it would acquire the German security firm for around $360 million in an all-cash deal.
“NortonLifeLock and Avira are fiercely dedicated to helping protect consumers’ digital lives,” said Witteveen in a statement. “We are thrilled to become part of NortonLifeLock – a company that is synonymous with trust and leadership in Cyber Safety. By leveraging the scale of NortonLifeLock, we can reach and protect more consumers around the globe.”
After the deal closes — which is expected to happen in Q4 2021 — Witteveen and Avira’s CTO Matthias Ollig will join the NortonLifeLock leadership team, NortonLifeLock said.
This Privacy Statement does not apply to NortonLifeLock affiliates: (1) Avira Operations GmbH & Co. KG., including its related entities; and (2) BullGuard Limited, including its related entities. These entities maintain separate privacy statements which can be found on their respective websites.
I see the product update notification <here> for Norton v22.21.1 EAP released for beta testing on 16-Feb-2021 includes a new feature called Smart Scan (currently available for US customers only). The description sounds very similar to the Smart Scan feature in Avira Antivirus described in the Avira support article Purpose of the Smart Scan Function.
In December, we announced LifeLock's first acquisition. Now that the deal has closed, we are excited to welcome Avira's employees, customers and partners to the Norton family. We are really excited by the opportunity to provide Avira's 30 million users and over 1.5 million paid customers the benefit of the Norton plus Avira offering. Together, we are now privileged to help protect over 80 million consumers globally as we embrace the important responsibility we have in securing the digital lives. We are also quickly working to leverage our strong presence in Europe, which now also includes BullGuard, a UK based cyber security company that Avira added to their business last year.
We’re excited to announce that BullGuard has joined Avira as part of NortonLifeLock. With a combined 50+ years in cybersecurity innovation, Avira and BullGuard have helped make the connected world a safer place for people around the globe. By joining NortonLifeLock, we can leverage our combined expertise, technologies and geographical footprints to help protect more people.
"... The company plans on keeping the Avira brand too, although the name will be slightly tweaked in the future. “Avira by Norton will stay a leading freemium brand—and Norton and LifeLock will remain NortonLifeLock’s premium security and identity theft protection brands,” a NortonLifeLock rep told PCMag.