NortonLifeLock and Avast to merge in $8 billion transaction

Cyber-security firm NortonLifeLock announced today that it reached an agreement to merge with Czech antivirus maker Avast in a stock-based deal that could be worth between $8.1 billion to $8.6 billion.

Merger terms and details:

• Under the terms of the merger, Avast shareholders will be entitled to receive a combination of cash and newly issued shares in NortonLifeLock.
• The NortonLifeLock shares provided to Avast stockholders will be $27.20/share, which was the closing share price on July 13, 2021, the day before news of the merger talks leaked online, and market speculation began.
• Pending approval from Avast shareholders, the deal could be worth between $8.1 billion to $8.6 billion.
• Once approved, Avast stockholders will hold approximately 14% of the combined company's shares.
• NortonLifeLock Chief Executive Officer Vincent Pilette will remain CEO of the new company.
•  Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek will serve as President and become a member of the new company's Board of Directors.
• On completion of the merger, the combined company will be dual headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, and Tempe, Arizona, USA.
• The combined company will be listed on NASDAQ. NortonLifeLock is currently listed on NASDAQ as NLOK, while Avast is listed on the London Stock Exchange as AVST.
• The new joint company will serve an estimated userbase of 500 million users.
• Additional merger documents are available on the Avast investor relations portal.

Prior to the Avast merger today, NotonLifeLock also bought German antivirus maker Avira in a $360 million cash transaction in December 2020.

NortonLifeLock formed in November 2019 after Symantec sold its enterprise assets to Broadcom for $10.7 billion, with Symantec's consumer and SMB operations rebranding as NortonLifeLock.