NortonLifeLock has confirmed plans to acquire German antivirus provider Avira from Investcorp Technology Partners for $360 million in cash, the companies announced today. Investcorp bought Avira in April 2020 for $180 million; this deal essentially doubles the company's value.
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Avira provides consumer antivirus products through a "freemium" business model that lets users download security tools for free or pay to upgrade to premium tools. NortonLifeLock will keep the freemium model, officials said in a statement. Avira's free software has a user base of more than 30 million devices, and the firm reportedly has more than 1.5 million paying subscribers.
The deal is also intended to expand NortonLifeLock's international growth into Europe, where Avira already has a strong user base.
Avira CEO Travis Witteveen and CTO Matthias Ollig will join the NortonLifeLock leadership team as part of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Read more details here.