Coverage: Symantec to acquire LifeLock for $2.4 billion

Cybersecurity company Symantec Corp. has agreed to acquire LifeLock for $2.4 billion, expanding its business into theft security.

Kiel Porter and Beth Jinks of Bloomberg have the news:

LifeLock has been working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on the potential sale for several months, people with knowledge of the process said earlier this month. The company provides a range of identity-theft protection services for consumers and small businesses, including credit monitoring and alerts, according to its website.

Shares of the company have risen 45 percent this year to $20.75, giving it a market value of about $1.95 billion.

Symantec has been re-orientating its business more heavily toward cybersecurity, acquiring Blue Coat Inc. from Bain Capital this year in a $4.65 billion deal. Earlier in the year, Mountain View, California-based Symantec sold data storage unit Veritas to Carlyle Group LP for $7.4 billion.

Elliott’s activist investing arm unveiled a stake in LifeLock in June and owns about 11 percent of the company. Another Elliott activist target — Mentor Graphics Corp. — agreed to be acquired by Siemens AG for $4.5 billion in a deal announced Nov. 14.

Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis of Reuters note the deal expands Symantec’s consumer business:

The deal would expand Symantec’s consumer offerings after its $4.65 billion acquisition in August of Blue Coat Inc, which helps companies maintain security over the internet. It would also represent a victory for activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, which had pushed LifeLock to explore its options.

Symantec has so far prevailed in the auction for LifeLock after the company received final bids last week, the people said, cautioning that the outcome could still change. A deal could be announced as early as this week, the people added.

LifeLock has a market capitalization of close to $2 billion, while Symantec has a market capitalization of $14.8 billion. It could not be ascertained how much Symantec, which outbid private equity firms in the auction, was offering for LifeLock.

The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Symantec and LifeLock did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Based in Tempe, Arizona, LifeLock offers services to consumers such as monitoring new account openings and credit-related applications in order to alert them about unauthorized use of their identity. It also works with government agencies, merchants and creditors to remediate the impact of identity theft.

Sarah Kuranda of CRN reports that Symantec will benefit from LifeLock’s intelligence operation:

Robert Keblusek, CTO of Sentinel Technologies, a Downers Grove, Ill.- based Symantec partner, said an acquisition of a company like LifeLock could make a lot of sense for the security vendor if it helps feed their intelligence engine. He said security analytics are a “huge way for security companies to differentiate themselves” in today’s marketplace.

“If it would feed more analytics intelligence and make overall security portfolio stronger for zero-day activity, I think that is one of the biggest end games for any of these vendors,” Keblusek said.

That security analytics and intelligence capability will prove key as Symantec looks to go head to head with other major security vendors, such as Cisco, which also offer extensive threat intelligence and security capabilities, Keblusek said.

“You can have an excellent product that does a lot of the blocking and protects endpoints but if you don’t have the intelligence to know what to block and what to do then that’s very difficult,” Keblusek said.