McAfee is planning to return to the public market, following the footsteps of companies including CrowdStrike in a recent barrage of cyber security-related initial public offerings (IPOs), reports zdnet.com.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the cyber security firm is meeting with banks and representatives of financial institutions over the course of this week to discuss a return to the market and a potential IPO listing.
According to sources familiar with the matter, an IPO could raise at least $1 billion for the company and could value McAfee at over $5 billion.
Semiconductor giant Intel purchased McAfee for $7.7 billion in 2011 and rebranded the organization to Intel Security. By 2016, Intel had sold a 51 percent majority stake of Intel Security to TPG for $3.1 billion, and the pair chose to shift the business back to the McAfee name under private ownership.
Thoma Bravo then acquired a minority stake in the joint venture, and while reports suggested the private equity firm was interested in acquiring McAfee outright last year, these talks appear to have come to nothing at present.
McAfee has publicly traded before and was an established firm in the stock market back in 1999. There is no guarantee that the company will reach the $5 billion evaluation or, indeed, if an IPO will be launched, but an IPO, in general, is a way for businesses to boost their cash reserves.
The sources do say, however, that a future sale to a suitable buyer is not completely off the table.
The cyber security firm has made two interesting acquisitions in recent years, the purchase of TunnelBear and Skyhigh Networks.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
