Amanda Conroy, PC World Australia
Symantec has
announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Australian security
vendor PC Tools.
The privately held PC Tools, which is headquartered in Sydney,
has risen to global prominence since hitting the world stage in
2003 with its security and privacy products for Windows-based
PCs.
Symantec has not disclosed the financial terms of the
acquisition and says that the transaction is expected to be
completed by the end of 2008 subject to closing conditions and
regulatory approvals.
The companies have some crossover in terms of the products they
bring to consumers, although PC Tools has gained its market share
with free and competitively priced versions of its products, as
well as award-winning performance. It's Spyware Doctor software has
consistently performed well in PC World's tests.
According to Catriona Turner, Symantec's public relations
spokesperson for Asia Pacific and Japan, the company's focus "has
always been to help consumers manage their technology, from system
utilities to security and online backup. PC Tools will broaden our
portfolio in the utilities category, as well as with point security
technologies."
Turner added: "While there are some areas of technology overlap,
such as basic antivirus and firewall, PC Tools brings unique
complementary technologies such as PC maintenance and utility
capabilities. Also, PC Tools' automated response infrastructure
leverages several of their security technologies, and will provide
additional coverage of emerging threat types."
While Symantec already has a strong global presence, the company
has cited the fact that PC Tools' products are available in more
than 196 countries and in up to 27 languages as helping to expand
Symantec's reach into emerging markets.
PC Tools' Malware Research Centre -- which monitors trends and
emerging spyware issues -- will also prove a boon for Symantec
should the acquisition go ahead. Turner revealed that part of the
reason Symantec is acquiring PC Tools is because of the knowledge
and experience possessed by the latter's employees. "Therefore, we
are very interested in retaining PC Tools employees after the
acquisition," she said.
According to Symantec, PC Tools will maintain separate
operations within Symantec's consumer business unit, with Simon
Clausen, PC Tools' chief executive officer, continuing to lead the
team. He will report to Janice Chaffin, Symantec group president of
consumer products. Symantec says it will essentially be business as
usual for PC Tools, which will sell its full catalogue of products
and support its loyal customer base.
PCWorld