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Symantec Continues Shopping Spree with BindView Buy
Symantec Corp. continued its buying spree Monday as it announced it will acquire compliance software maker BindView, enabling the security and data integrity firm to flesh out its offerings for corporate customers.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec says it will pay approximately $209 million in cash for Houston, Texas-based BindView. That’s a far cry from Symantec’s acquisition over the summer of backup and recovery firm Veritas, which may have been the largest buyout in tech software history. When announced last winter, the Veritas deal was worth an estimated at $13.5 billion in Symantec stock. That deal closed in late June.
Founded in 1990 and taken public in 1998, BindView is seen as an important up and comer in the corporate IT security environment due to the increasing requirements on IT managers to provide auditable controls for storage, backup, recovery and integrity on a myriad of data sources – all driven by regulatory laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability acts.
“[With BindView’s products], not only will we be able to meet customers’ IT security and policy compliance needs with a complete range of product capabilities, but we will also be able to help reduce the cost and complexity associated with compliance,” Ajei Gopal, Symantec senior vice president of solutions, alliances and operations, said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
BindView reports it has sold more than 20 million licenses to 5,000 companies worldwide. The company has about 550 employees and had revenues of $72 million in fiscal 2004.
In comparison, Mountain View, Calif.-based Veritas had calendar 2004 revenues of $2.04 billion, while Symantec – whose fourth quarter ended April 1 -- had fiscal 2005 revenues of $2.58 billion.
Simultaneously with the announcement of the sale, BindView Monday also revised its guidance to financial analysts regarding the current quarter and fiscal year. “The company estimates revenues for the third quarter of 2005 will range between $17.7 [million] and $18.1 million, which is lower than its previously announced estimate of $19.0 and $21.0 million,” according to BindView’s statement.
The acquisition, pending regulatory and BindView shareholder approvals, will cost about $4 per share and is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2006, according to the companies.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.