Silver Lake Management LLC announced that the company will be investing a total of $500 million in the biggest cyber security software maker, Symantec. The investment will entitle the private equity firm a seat on its board of the company.
Reuters reported that Symantec is planning to use the new investment obtained for shares buyback and to pay dividends to its shareholder. A total of $2.3 billion in shares buyback was announced including a special dividend to its shareholders value at $4 per share.
The shares buyback is part of the company's plan to maintain the company during the uncertainties economic period. The Norton anti-virus maker also said that it will reduce its operating cost as much as $400 million by the end of 2018.
Symantec sales are currently dropping because the company's core business which is anti-virus for the computer is dropping as consumers are in the transition stage from desktop to mobile. Bloomberg also reported that the delay in the company's response to adapt with current cyber security threat cause a loss to the company as more startup slowly taking the bigger stake in providing a better cyber security system.
An analyst for FBR Capital Markets, Daniel Ives told Bloomberg that the investment and involvement of Silver Lake could potentially help the company to improve in the current market. According to him "They're going through a major transition as a company and Silver Lake getting involved at this point could only probably help them."
He also added that "Silver Lake is a very respected voice on the Street relative to what they've done in the tech sector, and having them in Symantec's corner is probably a good thing."
One of business reshuffling done by Symantec is through selling off some of its department to help the company stay focus. Previously, the company had just completed a $7.4 billion sale of The Carlyle Group.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the sale was done due to lots of pressure from its investors to split the two companies. Currently, activist hedge fund, Elliot Management Corp. is the largest shareholders in Symantec.
Symantec just recorded 23 percent drop in its profit with 5 percent decrease in revenue for its fourth quarter earnings report. The company had also adjusted its forecast for this quarter and is expecting to get revenue no more than $915 million.
With the latest investment from Silver Lake, Symantec is expected to be able to use SIlver Lake's business partner and plan to ensure its business grow better. With its current position as the world's largest cyber security provider, Symantec will be slowly moving its business to align with the current market needs especially in terms of anti-hacking software.
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