Symantec ends Broadcom talks

Cybersecurity company Symantec has walked away from negotiations to sell itself to chipmaker Broadcom over price disagreements.

Cybersecurity company Symantec has walked away from negotiations to sell itself to chipmaker Broadcom over price disagreements, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Symantec’s decision raises new questions over the future of the US antivirus software provider, which is looking for a new CEO and has been struggling to grow its business serving companies.

It could not be determined why the price negotiations broke down. Broadcom was last week willing to offer as much as $28.25 per share in cash for Symantec and was hoping to ink a deal on Monday, one of the sources said. CNBC, which first reported the news on Monday, said Symantec was looking for more than $28 per share.

It was possible that talks between the two sides would resume, the sources said. However, Symantec has a track record of exploring a sale, only subsequently to walk away from a deal.

Prior to reaching a deal with Starboard Value LP in 2018, that gave it representation on Symantec’s board, the Mountain View, California-based company explored going private, according to the sources.

Symantec also held talks in 2018 with private equity firm Thoma Bravo about a leveraged buyout. Two other private equity firms, Silver Lake Partners and Bain Capital, are investors in Symantec and each have a seat on its board.

Symantec’s shares fell 12% to $22.43 in Monday morning trading, giving it a market value of $14bn. Broadcom shares were up 2% at $291.32.

Symantec is struggling with severe competition from nimbler rivals. Several top executives, including CEO Greg Clark, left the firm in 2019, and it is also being investigated by US regulators over an accounting irregularity.