NortonLifeLock has announced it has rebranded as Gen Digital following the completion of its merger with Avast.
The company revealed the acquisition of its fellow antivirus giant in August 2021 in a multi-billion dollar merger worth between $8.1 and $8.6 billion.
The newly formed company, which will have two headquarters, one in Prague, Czech Republic, and the other in Tempe, Arizona, is expected to have more than 500 million customers, uniting well-known brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, CCleaner and ReputationDefender under one new entity.
Comprehensive portfolio
As of today, Gen Digital will trade on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, under the “GEN” symbol, although shareholders need not do anything.
The move should deliver more than $280 million in annual cost savings within three years’ time.
Avast was founded in Prague in 1988 before going public in 2018 on the London Stock Exchange, where it was valued at approximately $3 billion, making it one of the UK’s biggest technology listings at the time.
NortonLifeLock’s Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Pilette, is keeping his position at the newly-merged company, with Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek joining as president and board member.
“Today, five billion people around the world are online; digital life is life,” Pilette said. “We’re all a part of a new generation, regardless of age. It’s not Gen X, Y or Z, it’s Generation Digital. Gen’s family of trusted brands has a heritage of protecting the first digital generations and is united by a shared purpose to power Digital Freedom for the next generation of our digital lives.”
Cybersecurity (opens in new tab) in the enterprise has become a growing challenge in recent times, even more so since the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses are increasing their budgets as they try their best to protect against numerous risks, such as credential phishing, data, and identity theft, distributed denial of service attacks, business email compromise, or ransomware attacks.
While Norton focuses more on identity protection, Avast is more oriented toward antivirus solutions. Now, the two companies hope to provide “a more comprehensive portfolio” to their customers.
“Our day-to-day life is almost entirely connected; we bank, shop, learn, work and connect online.” said Vlcek. “While the advancement of technology has brought conveniences and connections we couldn’t have imagined, it also brings added complexities and new types of threats. At Gen, we’re committed to bringing our passion, expertise and global presence together to innovatively tackle these challenges and ultimately power Digital Freedom for everyone.”
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