Nov 22, 2016 07:00 AM EST By Erwin Castro, UniversityHerald Reporter

Security software firm Symantec announced yesterday, Nov. 21, that it is acquiring LifeLock, an identity protection specialist company, in a deal valued at $2.3 billion, a big boost to the IT industry from this multi-billion dollar deal, according to Wall Street Journal. 

The Symantce and LifeLock deal is expected to close in the first calendar quarter next year. Under the agreement, Symantec will pay LifeLock shareholders $24 per share, which is 16 percent above the share's closing price on Friday.

According to Symantec, the deal will help to grow its consumer business, while providing new sources of intelligent security technology for its enterprise business.

The LifeLock acquisition is the second major deal that Symantec announced this year, following its acquisition of security vendor Blue Coat Systems last June.  

Based in Tempe, Arizona, LifeLock offers identity theft protection services that help customers and businesses detect fraudulent applications for various credit and non-credit related services. The company offers its main product, the LifeLock Identity Alert system, which sends users a potential fraud alert by phone, text, or email. When a Symantec customer confirm that the suspicious transaction is fraudulent, then the LifeLock team are dispatch to assist them with the identity recovery and protection. In addition to consumer services, the company also provides identity theft protection services to businesses.

The Arizona-based company claims to have 4.4 million users at the end of the third quarter of this year, an 8 percent increase from a year ago. Unfortunately, the company needs to pay $100 million to settle a recent Federal Trade Commission charges related to deceptive advertising.

According to ZDNet, Symantec will finance the deal with cash on the balance sheet and $750 million of new debt. Symantec is not the only company that chasing LIfeLock, an earlier report from Bloomberg said that private equity firms TPG, Permira, TPG, and Evergreen Coast Capital are also on the hunt for LifeLock, which has been in buyout talks for several months.

The news about LifeLock getting acquired is no longer new. The identity theft protection vendor has been shopping itself through Goldman Sachs & Co. for the last few months. LifeLock has been reportedly in talks with a number of potential buyers. 

Symantec has been busy beefing up its cybersecurity portfolio for this year. The company is on a shopping spree recently, adding technology and talents to its cybersecurity portfolio. Earlier in the year, it acquired security firm Blue Coat Systems from Bain Capital for $4.65 billion deal. The Mountain View-based company offers software for security, storage, backup and availability.

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