Broadcom is in “advanced talks” to buy big channel security vendor Symantec, according to sources Bloomberg has talked to. Any acquisition would add to Broadcom's move into the software business after it took over CA Technologies last year for $18bn.
Broadcom could reach an agreement to buy Symantec “within weeks”, reports the news wire. Both Broadcom and Symantec have yet to comment on the report.
When it moved for CA, it was seen as a pretty left field move by commentators at the time. But software is seen as a potentially more profitable business when compared to the network semiconductor markets Broadcom specialises in – even though Symantec is currently struggling to achieve any meaningful growth.
Symantec’s shares rose almost a fifth in pre-market trading today in New York. They closed at over $22 yesterday, giving the company a market value of about $13.7bn.
Broadcom's market value is around $118bn so it could easily digest Symantec if a deal could be done, although how it would widen Symantec's offering, if at all, is anyone's guess. Since acquiring multi-faceted CA, it hasn't exactly done anything exciting with it.
Broadcom abandoned a hostile takeover of rival chipmaker Qualcomm last year after the US government moved to block any acquisition on national security grounds.
