Symantec bags MessageLabs

Security vendor bolsters position in fast-growing SaaS space with $695m acquisition

Symantec has stepped up its arms race with McAfee by laying down $695m (£396m) for messaging and web security vendor MessageLabs.

Just two weeks after McAfee dropped $465m for Secure Computing, Symantec has trumped the deal by signing a definitive agreement with the Software as a Service (SaaS) specialist.

MessageLabs is no giant, having grown annual sales by 20 per cent to $145m in its latest fiscal year. But Symantec stressed the acquisition would bolster its SaaS position, a market IDC believes will grow from $5.71bn in 2007 to $17bn in 2012.

Symantec claimed MessageLabs is the top provider of online messaging security worldwide with more than eight million end users at 19,000 clients. The acquisition will allow it to cross-sell and up-sell its existing SaaS offerings of backup, storage and online remote access into MessagLabs’ customer base, Symantec added.

The $695m cash deal, which is subject to foreign currency adjustments, will be payable in approximately £310m and $154m.

John Thompson, chief executive of Symantec, said: “MessageLabs extends our investments in the Software-as-a Service segment and will allow us to offer our customers unprecedented choice from a single provider of message security solution.

“By combining MessageLabs with our Symantec Protection Network team, we have one of the strongest portfolios of cloud-based infrastructure services and a great foundation on which to grow.”

Adrian Chamberlain, chief executive of MessageLabs, said: “Symantec and MessageLabs have a common belief in the benefits of in-the-cloud services and how they enable customers to be protected from threats and enforce policy.”