Symantec Corporation Splitting Into Two Companies: Security And Information Management

Symantec Corporation SYMC announced Thursday it is breaking into two companies.  The decision was expected by some analysts and felt to be a positive move.

The company will separate its security and information management (IM) businesses. “Creating two standalone businesses will allow each entity to maximize its respective growth opportunities and drive greater shareholder value,” according to the press release.

In security, “Symantec is a trusted leader...with leading overall market share—twice the nearest competitor—in a market projected to reach $38 billion in 2018.”

Symantec claims that the “company's security business sees more, analyzes more, and knows more about security threats than any other company in the world.”  The security business generated revenue of $4.2 billion in fiscal year 2014.

The IM business generated revenue of $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 and the new Information Management company “will include: backup and recovery; archiving; eDiscovery; storage management; and information availability solutions.”

The company’s IM business competes “in markets that were $11 billion in 2013 expanding to $16 billion by 2018”... and it already serves “75 percent of the Fortune 500. The company's appliance products are outpacing the industry with 27 percent year-over-year growth, while its backup products rank first in the industry.”

The press release noted that “Michael A. Brown will be the President and CEO of Symantec and Thomas Seifert will continue to serve as CFO. John Gannon will be General Manager of the new information management business and Don Rath will be its acting CFO.”

Symantec Corporation closed at $23.44 Thursday, down 2.37 percent.