Five tech companies that split in half (and a big one that was nearly forced to)

After Symantec announced it would be splitting up its consumer and enterprise arms, we assess how other tech companies taking a similar approach have fared

Last week Symantec announced that it will be splitting in two, with its enterprise unit being sold off to Broadcom, along with the Symantec brand.

Symantec is not the first tech titan to split itself in half in order to boost its numbers or placate angry investors.

Here we profile five vendors to have taken this step, and assess how the bold moved turned out for them.

Symantec (twice)

After a months of rumours, Symantec finally announced a deal with Broadcom last week, but it was not the one most expected.

Initial murmurs had suggested that Broadcom would swallow the whole of Symantec, but talks reportedly broke down after the two vendors could not agree on a valuation.

Instead, it was confirmed that Broadcom would acquire Symantec's enterprise business, and the Symantec name with it, leaving behind the consumer Norton business.

This move cuts the Symantec business almost straight down the middle.

Symantec's enterprise division generated sales of $611m (£504m) in its last fiscal year, with the consumer arm bringing in $636m.

This is not the first time Symantec has cut itself in two.

In 2016, it completed the sale of information management arm Veritas, which it acquired in 2004.

This move was not quite as even a split as the latest one, with security revenue in its last year as a combined company just under $4bn and Veritas' revenue $2.8bn. It did however see Symantec sell off one of its two focus areas, leaving it with just cybersecurity.

Article continues on next page