Avast plans to buy AVG for $ 1.3 billion

This is the largest deal in the development of antivirus software.

Antivirus software developer Avast Software announced its intention to buy another market player, AVG. The company made a corresponding statement yesterday, July 6th.

Avast plans to acquire AVG through the purchase of its shares at a price of $ 25 apiece. Based on the number of securities, the total transaction value is estimated at $ 1.3 billion.

In order to make a deal, Avast will need to go through several stages. The first is to get shareholder consent for the sale of securities. Here the companies will help AVG themselves, who will recommend their holders to take this step. Second - Avast will need to negotiate the transaction with various supervisory authorities, which should give the green light. Another problem Avast may face is AVG publicity. The first is a fully private company, while AVG is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Purchasing AVG is not only the acquisition of a competitor and the addition of company capacities. Historically, both developers of antivirus software have Czech roots, plus, the names of companies are consonant (both are short and start on AV), which often leads to confusion among ordinary consumers.

The deal will allow Avast to expand its user base to 250 million PCs and Mac devices and 160 million mobile platform users, and this will directly affect the amount of information collected on new threats and the effectiveness of development.

“We believe that by joining our forces with Avast, a private company with significant resources, we support our own growth goals and, in addition, we pursue the goals of our shareholders,” commented AVG CEO Gary Kovac.

The details of what exactly the AVG team will deal with in the framework of Avast, the latter cannot yet reveal.