After HP, Symantec has announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a plan to separate the company into two, independent publicly-traded companies: one business focussed on security and one business focussed on information management (“IM”).
Symantec’s decision to pursue a separation follows an extensive business review of the company’s strategy and operational structure. Creating two standalone businesses will allow each entity to maximize its respective growth opportunities and drive greater shareholder value.
“As the security and storage industries continue to change at an accelerating pace, Symantec’s security and IM businesses each face unique market opportunities and challenges. It has become clear that winning in both security and information management requires distinct strategies, focussed investments and go-to-market innovation. Separating Symantec into two, independent publicly-traded companies will provide each business the flexibility and the focus to drive growth and enhance shareholder value,” said Michael A. Brown, Symantec President & Chief Executive Officer.
Symantec has an overall market share – twice the nearest competitor – in a market projected to reach $38 billion in 2018.
The security business generated revenue of $4.2 billion in the fiscal year 2014. The security business will include: consumer and enterprise endpoint security; endpoint management; encryption; mobile; Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) Certificates; user authentication; mail, we and data center security; data loss prevention; hosted security; and managed security services.
Symantec’s IM businesses compete in markets that were $11 billion in 2013 expanding to $16 billion by 2018.
The Information Management business will include: backup and recovery; archiving; eDiscovery; storage management; and information availability solutions.
Michael A. Brown will be the President and CEO of Symantec and Thomas Seifert will continue to serve as CFO. John Gannon will be General Manager of the new information management business and Don Rath will be its acting CFO.
