Avira Sold to Norton!

[Corrine]

From NortonLifeLock buys Avira in $360 million cash deal | ZDNet:
Quote

Cybersecurity firm NortonLifeLock (formerly Symantec) has agreed today to acquire German antivirus maker Avira from Bahrain-based Investcorp Technology Partners in a $360 million all-cash deal.

The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2021, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, the two companies said today in joint press release.

The press release does include the statement, "Brings freemium business model and 30M+ active devices to the Norton family." which implies the free version of Avira will remain available -- at least for the immediate future.

 

[Digerati]

Hmmm, and Norton has a long history of buying the competition then terminating its development. I remember that tactic going way back to when Norton Utilities bought out and terminated PC Tools (which I felt was a much superior product).

It will be interesting to see what they do with the users of the free version of Avira. With it currently installed on 30 million devices, I don't see them suddenly charging for it. Wait and see.

Thanks Corrine. I learned two things here. First, about the Avira acquisition. And second, I knew Symantec merged with LifeLock, I didn't realize they changed their name to NortonLifeLock.

 

[Corday]

Strange. It was acquired in the Spring for ½ that amount.