Symantec reportedly has approached storage providers EMC, NetApp and a number of private equity firms in the past few months to test the market to sell its Veritas business or perhaps the entire company, ahead of the planned company split.
With Symantec insisting that its planned split into separate security and storage operations is still on track, rumours persist that for months the security vendor has pursued selling the Veritas business, or perhaps the entire company.
In the latest salvo, Reuters reported recently that Symantec has approached storage providers EMC, NetApp and a number of private equity firms with trial balloons to test the market for a Veritas sale.
According to industry sources close to the matter, tax liabilities associated with splitting the company are said to be limiting the interest of potential buyers, according to the report.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, which advised Symantec on the corporate split, also has offered counsel on a possible sale of the entire company, sources told Reuters.
Symantec hasn’t directly denied the reports, issuing a standard email to SCMagazine.com that it is “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.”
Some reports have placed Symantec’s asking price for Veritas at about $8bn, a figure analysts described as a “steep investment” for about 40% of Symantec’s overall revenue. Symantec paid $13.5bn for Veritas in 2004.
In January this year, Symantec resurrected the Veritas name for its spun-off information management business, sporting a new logo but saying it will rely on the original company’s brand recognition, history and reputation to help the new entity establish its own identity.
