An investor group led by private equity firms Advent International and Permira Advisers has agreed to acquire McAfee (Nasdaq: MCFE) in a transaction valued at approximately $14 billion, including debt.
McAfee’s board of directors approved the transaction that is expected to be completed in the first half of calendar year 2022, pending approval by McAfee’s shareholders, regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions, the companies said in a release published Monday.
The investor group also includes Crosspoint Capital Partners, CPP Investments, GIC and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
McAfee will become a privately held company upon the transaction’s completion and will receive operational and financial resources from the investor group to further improve its online protection product offerings, meet the increasing demand for digital protection services and advance long-term value via market expansion efforts.
Bryan Taylor, head of technology investment team and a managing partner at Advent, said the private equity firm sees an opportunity to build on McAfee’s technology platform to continue providing innovative offerings meant to safeguard all aspects of people’s digital lives worldwide.
“We look forward to working alongside our investment partners and the talented McAfee team to continue setting the bar for consumer digital protection,” Taylor added.
Under the deal’s terms, McAfee shareholders will get $26 in cash for each share of common stock they own.
Goldman Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. serve as McAfee’s financial advisers in the transaction, while Ropes & Gray and Moulton Moore Stella act as legal counsel to the cybersecurity company.
JP Morgan Securities, BofA Securities, Barclays Capital and Citigroup Global Markets are serving as financial advisers and Bryant Stibel Group as strategic operating adviser to the investor group. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Kirkland & Ellis are acting as M&A legal counsel and finance legal counsel, respectively, to the investor group.
