Just over a year after becoming public through an initial public offering, the company will be taken private (IPO). The investor group, led by Advent International and included Permira Advisers, Crosspoint Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC Private Limited, and an Abu Dhabi Investment subsidiary, will pay $26 per share for all outstanding shares of McAfee common stock in an all-cash deal. After paying off McAfee’s debt, the purchase is worth around $12 billion in equity value and more than $14 billion in enterprise value. The deal adds to the company’s tumultuous past, which was started and tarnished by its late founder John McAfee. McAfee will continue to function as a pure-play consumer cybersecurity firm after selling its enterprise division to Symphony Technology Group for $4 billion in July 2021. Intel bought McAfee for $7.68 billion in 2010, and in 2014, the chipmaker announced that McAfee will become Intel Security. After TPG Capital purchased a 51 percent ownership in McAfee in 2016, Intel announced that it would once again become an independent firm. Last year, McAfee completed its first public offering, with TPG and Intel staying as stockholders.
