McAfee said a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Advent International will take the cyber security company private in a $14 billion deal.
The Advent-led consortium also includes private equity firms Permira Advisers, Crosspoint Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board among others.
The company, founded by U.S. technology entrepreneur John McAfee in 1987, was the first to bring to market a commercial antivirus. Intel bought it in 2011, when McAfee himself no longer had any involvement.
In the last few years, McAfee has strengthened its main cybersecurity software business that focuses on retail customers via price increases, new partner programs and good retention rates.
The purchase price at $26 per share represents a premium of 22.6 percent over McAfee’s closing share price of $21.21 on Nov. 4, the last trading day before the Wall Street Journal reported about the deal talks.
Shares, of the San Jose, California-based company, which made its market debut last year, were down more than 3 percent at $25.36 in premarket trading, slightly below the offer price.
In a similar deal in August, U.S. cybersecurity company NortonLifeLock agreed to buy London-listed rival Avast for up to $8.6 billion to create a leader in consumer security software.
