Since joining McAfee from EMC, CEO Dave DeWalt has taken the company on an industry shopping spree, grabbing security companies like Onigma, Reconnex, and SafeBoot. Recent economic turmoil hasn't dissuaded the company from continuing this trend. Monday morning, McAfee announced that it will acquire venerable Secure Computing in a transaction valued at approximately $465 million.
So what do all these acquisitions bring? Diversification. In spite of its size and brand visibility, McAfee was never a niche product company in the past--strong in endpoint security, intrusion detection/prevention, and vulnerability scanning, weak or invisible in everything else. Through acquisitions, McAfee surrounded its existing franchises with additional complementary pieces. Take endpoint security and add encryption. Take content security and add DLP. Pretty soon you have a much broader portfolio.
This is the exact mindset behind the Secure Computing acquisition. McAfee was a no-show in messaging security last week, now it has No. 2 or No. 3 market share. The same thing is true for Web security, reputation services, and "in the cloud" Web security services. McAfee is now a player. Secure Computing also brings an experienced enterprise distribution channel, something McAfee desperately needs to take these new products to large organizations.
Don't expect McAfee's acquisition rampage to dissipate anytime soon. The company still needs to jump into security information management, application/database security, and possibly identity management. Don't be surprised if you see ArcSight, Application Security, Chosen Security, Courion, or LogRhythm join the McAfee stable sometime soon.
Clarification, Sept. 23, 4:42 a.m. PDT: This story originally omitted mention that the $465 million total includes consideration of cash held by Secure Computing.
Security specialist McAfee on Monday announced that it has a deal in place to acquire Secure Computing.
The merger offer is pegged at $5.75 per common share in cash, which McAfee says represents a total equity value of about $413 million. The deal also includes a cash offer for outstanding shares of Secure Computing preferred stock, valued at about $84 million. Those components, less cash held by Secure Computing, bring the total value of the proposed acquisition to $465 million, McAfee said.
San Jose, Calif.-based Secure Computing would bring to McAfee a set of products and services designed to help customers protect Web, e-mail, and network assets. With the acquisition, McAfee says it would be able to offer a complete, single-source network security portfolio to a wide range of businesses, from small to global.
The deal is expected to close toward the end of the fourth quarter, McAfee said.
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