Symantec could sell off Veritas arm ahead of split - report

According to The Wall Street Journal Symantec could get $8bn for Veritas sale

Symantec is exploring the potential of selling off its information-management (IM) arm Veritas according to The Wall Street Journal.

In January Symantec decided on the Veritas name for its IM business following the company's decision to split into two publicly listed companies, which was announced in October. The other half of the company will be its security arm.

But now, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, Symantec is looking at the option of selling the Veritas business and could fetch more than $8bn (£5.48bn) for the sale.

Symantec acquired Veritas back in 2005 in a deal worth $13.5bn. Last year Symantec said Veritas created $2.5bn in revenue for the vendor and operates in a market worth approximately $11bn.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Symantec has been in touch with private-equity firms and industry bidders about the sale of Veritas.

When approached, Symantec sent CRN the following statement: "We are on track to separate Veritas and Symantec into two independently traded companies by the end of the calendar year – one focused on information management and one focused on security."

Symantec's announcement that it was going to split in two came in the same month that eBay and HP announced they were separating their companies.