Gen Digital, formerly known as Symantec and NortonLifeLock, is a multinational computer software company founded on March 1, 1982. [1] It is an international corporation that specializes in selling security and information management software. [2] Gary Hendrix founded the company in 1982 with the help of a National Science Foundation grant. Symantec was originally focused on artificial intelligence-related projects, and Hendrix hired several Stanford University natural language processing researchers as the company's first employees. [3] After the company's initial public offering in 1989, Hendrix left the company in 1991 and moved to Texas. [4] The company has acquired 57 companies, purchased stakes in 2 firms, and divested 26 companies, in which parts of the company are sold to another company. Of the companies that Symantec has acquired, 50 were based in the United States. Symantec has not released the financial details for most of these mergers and acquisitions.
Symantec's first acquisition was C&E Software on January 1, 1984, and the founder of C&E Software, Gordon Eubanks, became the new chief executive officer of Symantec. [5] The company has made five acquisitions with a value greater than $1 billion: LifeLock was acquired on Feb 9, 2017 for $2.3 billion, Blue Coat Systems was acquired on Aug 1, 2016 for $4.65 billion, VeriSign was acquired on May 19, 2010, for $1.250 billion, Altiris was acquired on April 6, 2007, for $1.038 billion, and Symantec purchased Veritas Software on July 2, 2005, for $13 billion. The deal with Veritas was Symantec's largest acquisition and made Symantec the fifth-largest software company in the world. [6] Symantec made the most acquisitions in 2004 with six: ON Technology, Brightmail, TurnTide, @stake, LIRIC Associates, and Platform Logic. The company divested its enterprise-security software business to Broadcom for $10.7 billion in 2019 and adopted the NortonLifeLock name. [7] On November 7, 2022, NortonLifeLock rebranded to Gen Digital after completed its merger with Avast in last September. [8]
Date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 1, 1984 | C&E Software | Software | ![]() | — | [9] |
July 8, 1987 | Living Videotext | Software | ![]() | — | [10] |
October 26, 1987 | Think Technologies | Software | ![]() | — | [11] |
September 4, 1990 | Peter Norton Computing | Computer software | ![]() | $70,000,000 | [12] |
August 13, 1991 | Zortech International | Compiler software | ![]() | $12,100,000 | [13] |
August 21, 1991 | Dynamic Microprocessor Associates | Computer software | ![]() | $22,000,000 | [14] |
December 31, 1991 | Leonard Development Group | Computer programming | ![]() | — | [15] |
April 4, 1992 | Symantec UK | Wholesale software | ![]() | $26,200,000 | [16] |
June 9, 1992 | MultiScope | Debugging software | ![]() | $6,765,000 | [17] |
June 9, 1992 | Whitewater Group | Programming tools | ![]() | $3,280,000 | [18] |
October 9, 1992 | Certus International | Anti-virus software | ![]() | $3,260,000 | [19] |
June 2, 1993 | Contact Software International | Management software | ![]() | $47,000,000 | [20] |
October 7, 1993 | Fifth Generation Systems | Utilities software | ![]() | $43,250,000 | [21] |
November 8, 1993 | NetDistributor [note 1] | Software | ![]() | — | [22] |
November 8, 1993 | Trik-Distributor Mgmt Utility [note 2] | Management software | ![]() | — | [23] |
December 31, 1993 | DataEase Intl Inc-Cert Tech [note 3] | Software | ![]() | $8,180,000 | [24] |
January 13, 1994 | Quest Development | Data management software | ![]() | — | [25] |
June 1, 1994 | Central Point Software | Utility software | ![]() | $62,960,000 | [26] |
June 1, 1994 | SLR Systems | Software | ![]() | $2,300,000 | [27] |
September 30, 1994 | Intec Systems | Mobile computing | ![]() | $1,610,000 | [28] |
July 28, 1995 | Sytron | Computer peripheral | ![]() | — | [29] |
November 22, 1995 | Delrina | Software | ![]() | $378,080,000 | [30] |
June 30, 1996 | Fast Track | Open network design | ![]() | $7,462,500 | [31] |
June 4, 1998 | Eastman Software-Storage Mgmt [note 4] | Storage migration technology | ![]() | $10,000,000 | [32] |
June 24, 1998 | Binary Research | Disk cloning technology | ![]() | $27,500,000 | [33] |
September 28, 1998 | Intel Corp-Anti Virus Business [note 5] | Anti-virus software | ![]() | — | [34] |
March 30, 1999 | Quarterdeck | Utilities and community software | ![]() | $78,411,000 | [35] |
July 21, 1999 | Urlabs | Internet software | ![]() | — | [36] |
March 9, 2000 | L-3 Commun Network Security [note 6] | Security solutions | ![]() | $20,000,000 | [37] |
December 18, 2000 | AXENT Technologies | Security solutions | ![]() | $988,066,000 | [38] |
August 30, 2001 | Lindner & Pelc Consult | Computer consulting | ![]() | — | [39] |
July 2, 2002 | Mountain Wave | Enterprise security management | ![]() | $20,000,000 | [40] |
August 6, 2002 | SecurityFocus | Cyber Intelligence | ![]() | $75,000,000 | [41] |
August 19, 2002 | Recourse Technologies | Internet security | ![]() | $135,000,000 | [42] |
August 19, 2002 | Riptech | Managed security | ![]() | $145,000,000 | [43] |
April 17, 2003 | Roxio-Goback Sys Recovery Ast [note 7] | System recovery | ![]() | $13,000,000 | [44] |
July 18, 2003 | Nexland | Internet access | ![]() | $19,600,000 | [45] |
October 20, 2003 | SafeWeb Inc | Security and privacy | ![]() | $26,000,000 | [46] |
December 8, 2003 | PowerQuest | Software | ![]() | $150,000,000 | [47] |
February 17, 2004 | ON Technology | Network security software | ![]() | $101,110,000 | [48] |
June 22, 2004 | Brightmail | Anti-spam software | ![]() | $370,000,000 | [49] |
July 13, 2004 | TurnTide | Anti-spam software | ![]() | $28,000,000 | [50] |
October 8, 2004 | @stake | Digital security | ![]() | $24,000,000 | [51] |
October 11, 2004 | LIRIC Associates | Computer consulting | ![]() | — | [52] |
December 13, 2004 | Platform Logic | Software | ![]() | — | [53] |
May 16, 2005 | XtreamLok | Information Security | ![]() | $17,873,000 | [54] [55] [56] |
July 2, 2005 | Veritas Software | Business applications software | ![]() | $13,520,000,000 | [57] [58] |
October 4, 2005 | WholeSecurity | Security software | ![]() | $68,270,000 | [55] [59] |
October 7, 2005 | Sygate Technologies | Software | ![]() | $176,971,000 | [55] [60] |
January 6, 2006 | BindView | Network management software | ![]() | $220,716,000 | [55] [61] |
February 13, 2006 | IMlogic | IM protection software | ![]() | $90,700,000 | [55] [62] |
February 17, 2006 | Relicore | Management software | ![]() | $52,071,000 | [55] [63] |
November 20, 2006 | Revivio | Continuous data protection | ![]() | — | [64] |
December 1, 2006 | Company-i | Information technology | ![]() | $37,000,000 | [65] [66] |
February 23, 2007 | 4FrontSecurity | Risk management | ![]() | $7,000,000 | [66] [67] |
April 6, 2007 | Altiris | IT management software | ![]() | $1,038,238,000 | [68] [69] |
November 30, 2007 | Vontu | Data security software | ![]() | $350,000,000 | [70] [69] |
January 11, 2008 | Transparent Logic Technologies | Workflow optimization software | ![]() | $12,000,000 | [66] |
April 18, 2008 | AppStream | Application Streaming | ![]() | $53,000,000 | [71] [72] |
June 6, 2008 | SwapDrive | Web-based software | ![]() | $124,000,000 | [73] [74] |
August 8, 2008 | nSuite Technologies | Desktop virtualization | ![]() | $20,000,000 | |
October 6, 2008 | PC Tools | Utility software | ![]() | $262,000,000 | [74] [77] |
November 14, 2008 | MessageLabs | SaaS Security Provider | ![]() | $630,000,000 | [78] [79] |
March 20, 2009 | Mi5 Networks | Web Security Gateway | ![]() | $18,000,000 | [74] [80] |
October 31, 2009 | SoftScan | SaaS Security Provider | ![]() | — | [81] |
January 12, 2010 | Gideon Technologies | Information security | ![]() | — | [82] |
June 4, 2010 | PGP Corporation | Data Encryption | ![]() | $300,000,000 | [83] |
June 3, 2010 | GuardianEdge | Endpoint Data Protection | ![]() | $70,000,000 | [83] |
May 19, 2010 | VeriSign security business | Authentication Services | ![]() | $1,280,000,000 | [84] |
October 10, 2010 | RuleSpace security business | Web content categorization | ![]() | — | [85] |
May 19, 2011 | Clearwell Systems | eDiscovery | ![]() | $390,000,000 | [86] |
January 16, 2012 | LiveOffice | SaaS Archiving | ![]() | $115,000,000 | [87] |
March 2, 2012 | Odyssey Software | Mobile Device Management | ![]() | $36,000,000 | [88] [89] |
April 2, 2012 | Nukona | Mobile Application Management | ![]() | $28,000,000 | |
May 25, 2012 | VeriSign Japan KK | IT Security Software | ![]() | — | [92] |
July 18, 2013 | PasswordBank | Identity Management | ![]() | — | [93] |
May 28, 2014 | NitroDesk | Mobile Data Protection | ![]() | — | [94] |
August 14, 2015 | Blackfin Security | Cyber Security Training | ![]() | — | [95] |
June 12, 2016 | Blue Coat Systems | Cyber Security | ![]() | $4,650,000,000 | [96] [97] |
November 20, 2016 | LifeLock | Identity Theft Protection | ![]() | $2,300,000,000 | [98] |
June 8, 2017 | Watchful Software | IT Security Software | ![]() | — | [99] |
July 6, 2017 | Fireglass | Malware Prevention | ![]() | $225,000,000 | [100] [101] |
July 11, 2017 | Skycure | Mobile Threat Defense | ![]() | $205,000,000 | [102] [101] |
November 6, 2017 | SurfEasy, Inc. | VPN Provider | ![]() | $38,500,000 | [103] [104] |
November 5, 2018 | Appthority | Mobile Application Security | ![]() | — | [105] |
November 5, 2018 | Javelin Networks | Active Directory Security | ![]() | — | [106] |
February 12, 2019 | Luminate | Secure Application Access | ![]() | $200,000,000 | [107] |
December 7, 2020 | Avira | Computer security software | ![]() | $360,000,000 | [108] |
August 11, 2021 | Avast | Computer security software | ![]() | $8,000,000,000 | [109] [110] |
Date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 27, 2010 | Mocana | Security | United States | N/A | [111] |
Date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 24, 2000 | Brightmail [note 8] | Anti-spam software | ![]() | $18,000,000 | [112] |
February 5, 2008 | Huawei Tech Co Ltd-Telecom [note 9] | Telecommunications | ![]() | $150,000,000 | [113] |
Date | Acquirer | Target company | Target business | Acquirer country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 28, 1989 | NMB | Seagate Technology-Composite | Recording heads | ![]() | — | [114] |
November 30, 1989 | Carolian Systems International | Delrina [note 10] | Software | ![]() | — | [115] |
May 15, 1990 | IBM | Delrina [note 11] | Software | ![]() | $1,900,000 | [116] |
August 13, 1991 | Zortech | Symantec [note 12] | Software | ![]() | — | [117] |
October 30, 1991 | Read-Rite | Conner Peripherals-Film Ops | Computer disk film | ![]() | — | [118] |
November 11, 1991 | — [note 13] | Delrina | Software | — | $4,000,000 | [119] |
February 15, 1993 | RR Donnelley Norwest | Central Point Software | In-house manufacturing | ![]() | — | [120] |
May 27, 1993 | Overland Data | Conner Peripherals Inc-Cipher | Cipher tape drive | ![]() | $9,000,000 | [121] |
October 18, 1993 | DOVatron International | Conner Periph SG-Surf Asm Elec | Disk drives | ![]() | — | [122] |
March 31, 1995 | CenterLine Software | Veritas Software Corp-Vista | Software tools | ![]() | — | [123] |
September 28, 1995 | Quarterdeck Office Systems | StarNine | Internet services provider | ![]() | $12,470,000 | [124] |
November 27, 1995 | Investor Group | Time Line Solutions | Computer-based management | ![]() | — | [125] |
March 11, 1996 | Creative Wonders | Delrina | Computer software | ![]() | — | [126] |
September 10, 1996 | JetForm | Delrina Corp-Electronic Forms | Database software | ![]() | $100,000,000 | [127] |
November 14, 1997 | Elron Electronic Industries | ON Technology-Network Mgmt | Network management software | ![]() | $13,500,000 | [128] |
November 30, 1997 | Elron Software | ON Technology Corp-Network | Network security software | ![]() | $13,500,000 | [129] |
January 14, 1998 | Platinum Equity | StarNine Technologies | Internet services provider | ![]() | — | [130] |
December 31, 1999 | SalesLogix | Symantec Corp-ACT! Software | Information management | ![]() | $85,787,000 | [131] |
June 9, 2000 | Seagate Technology | Seagate Software | Wholesale software | ![]() | — | [132] |
November 22, 2000 | Investor Group | Seagate Technology-Disk-Drive | Disk drives and storage devices | ![]() | $2×10 9 | [133] |
November 30, 2000 | Black Box Corporation | Intec Systems | Mobile computing | ![]() | — | [134] |
December 18, 2002 | Sonic Solutions | Veritas-Desktop, Mobile Div | Software | ![]() | $9,200,000 | [135] |
May 10, 2004 | TechTarget | myITforum | Web portal | ![]() | — | [136] |
January 31, 2006 | Symantec [note 14] | Symantec | Internet software | ![]() | $1×10 9 | [137] |
March 10, 2008 | Vector Capital | Symantec Corp-Application | Internet software | ![]() | — | [138] |
July 8, 2008 | Electronic Evidence Discovery | Daticon | Litigation software | ![]() | — | [139] |
January 30, 2016 | The Carlyle Group | Veritas Technologies | data management software | ![]() | — | [140] |
November 4, 2019 | Broadcom | Symantec enterprise security | enterprise security | ![]() | $1.07×10 10 | [142] |
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