Symantec buys Blue Coat Systems
Symantec has decided to purchase Blue Coat Systems for $4.65 billion in a move that will allow it to more thoroughly protect its users from a variety of threats online.
The deal will also see Blue Coat’s CEO, Greg Clark, become Symantec’s new CEO. This will help the company fill the role which has been vacant since its previous chief executive, Michael brown stepped down in April due to poor financial results.
Symantec is widely known for its locally installed antivirus software whereas Blue Coat specializes in online security. Currently is used by over 15,000 companies to blacklist websites that may contain inappropriate or dangerous content. By combining the two companies, Symantec will be able to counter both local and web-based threats. It will also become one of the largest security companies with over 3,000 engineers.
In regard to Symantec’s increased size after the deal, Symantec chairman Daniel Schulman says: "This is an extremely compelling combination. We now are going to have the scale, the portfolio of products and services, and the resources necessary to protect customers against a constantly evolving threat landscape".
Blue Coat’s current chief executive, Greg Clark also made the point that "there is virtually no product overlap between Blue Coat and Symantec", because both companies operate within entirely different sectors in the field of cyber security.
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