Security software company McAfee announced on Monday that the company will be privatized through an investment group acquisition, with a transaction value of more than $14 billion.Bloomberg first reported last week that a possible transaction is about to happen. McAfee was founded by John McAfee in 1987 and is known for its computer antivirus software.
Founder McAfee left McAfee in 1994, which was acquired by Intel for $7.68 billion in 2010. In 2014, Intel announced the phasing out of the McAfee brand name for security software and renamed it “Intel Security”.
Last October, the company returned to the public stock market. McAfee said in the announcement that after selling its corporate business to private equity firm Symphony Technology Group for $4 billion in July, it will continue to be a “pure consumer cybersecurity” company.
The company said that the sale to investor groups announced on Monday, including Advent International Corp., Permira Advisers and Crosspoint Capital Partners, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022.
John McAfee led a poor life after leaving the company; in 2012, he fled to Guatemala because the Belize authorities tried to interrogate him about the murder of a neighbor. In March of this year, he was charged with securities fraud for hype and improper trading of cryptocurrencies. Authorities said he and his bodyguards persuaded their Twitter fans to invest in certain virtual currencies and then sell their holdings when prices rise. In June, McAfee was found dead in a cell in Barcelona, when Spain had approved his extradition to the United States to face allegations of tax fraud.
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