UK regulators have given the provisional nod for NortonLifeLock to purchase Avast in an $8bn deal.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously opened an in-depth probe after warning earlier this year that the deal risked harming competition. However, it later concluded that this was not the case.
Kirstin Baker – chair of the CMA inquiry group – said, “Millions of people across the UK rely on cyber safety services to keep them safe online.After gathering further information from the companies involved and other industry players, we are currently satisfied that this deal won’t worsen the options available to consumers.”
She also remarked that the CMA has therefore ‘provisionally concluded that the deal can go ahead’.
According to Security Week, following this, Avast’s stock price surged 42.41% on the London Stock Exchange. This gave Avast a stock market capitalisation of around $8.5bn.
The CMA found that the both companies ‘face significant competition’ from main rival McAfee and other smaller suppliers. Microsoft’s built-in security applications on its Windows operating system provided ‘increasingly important alternatives’ for consumers.
NortonLifeLock remarked that it “welcomed” the news, adding in a separate statement that it hoped to complete the deal by September 12, pending final CMA approval.
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