Symantec has announced the $10.7bn sale of its enterprise business to chip giant Broadcom, whilst cutting around 7% of its global workforce.
The deal will see the Symantec name also taken by Broadcom, while the security firm will retain its Norton LifeLock business.
Broadcom said it expected the cash deal to close in Q1 2020.
“This is a transformative transaction that should maximize immediate value to our shareholders while maintaining ownership in a pure play consumer cyber safety business with predictability, growth and strong consistent profitability,” said Rick Hill, interim president and CEO at Symantec.
“In addition it allows the Enterprise Security business to grow and compete on an enterprise platform with a worldwide sales and distribution reach which can service our existing customers.”
The deal is the latest in a raft of takeovers as Broadcom seeks to establish itself as a major IT infrastructure player, expanding beyond its core competence of processors. Over the past few years it has bought Brocade for $5.5bn and CA Technologies for nearly $19bn.
However, its attempts to buy US chip giant Qualcomm faltered after the influential Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) said it may create a national security risk. That’s despite Broadcom’s decision to move its headquarters from Singapore to California last year.
The firm is looking for additional revenue streams from software, as it has reportedly been particularly badly hit by the US-China stand-off, with Huawei one of its biggest customers.
It’s not believed the CFIUS will be looking at the Symantec deal.
Also yesterday, Symantec announced its Q1 financials, which included plans to close various facilities and datacenters and cut around 7% of its global workforce.
“The company estimates that it will incur total costs in connection with the restructuring of approximately $100m, with approximately $75m for severance and termination benefits and $25m for site closures. These actions are expected to be completed in fiscal 2020,” it reported.