McAfee flogs its enterprise business to Symphony

McAfee is flogging its enterprise business to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group (STG) for $4 billion.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

Once complete, the enterprise business will be rebranded, while McAfee will move forward focusing solely on delivering personal security for consumers under the existing brand name, the firm said.

McAfee CEO Peter Leav said that STG was the right partner to continue strengthening our Enterprise business, and this outcome is a testament to the business’ industry-leading solutions and most notably to the outstanding contributions of our employees.

“This transaction will allow McAfee to singularly focus on our consumer business and to accelerate our strategy to be a leader in personal security for consumers.”

McAfee, which specialises in device-to-cloud cybersecurity, has grown its Enterprise business through both organic development, as well as its own acquisitions. In November 2020, the provider released its MVISION XDR offering for improved SOC response, alongside its MVISION Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP).

However, its enterprise business has stuttered in recent times, with net revenue for 2020 up just 1.2 per cent to $1.35 billion, while its operating losses grew by 19.2 percent to $180 million.

McAfee will instead focus on its consumer business, which posted $1.56 billion in net revenue for 2020 – a 19.6 percent increase from its figure of $1.3 billion the year before. Operating income also grew 20.2 percent, increasing to $333 million from 2019’s figure of $277 million.