Reports: McAfee Considering IPO

Cybersecurity company McAfee is considering going public later this year or next, according to media reports.

The company, currently a joint venture owned by Intel Corporation INTC and private-equity firms TPG and Thoma Bravo, is meeting with banks this week to explore the possibility of a return to the public markets, Wall Street Journal and CNBC reported.

Sources cited by both outlets cautioned that the decision isn’t made, and that the owners could also eventually sell McAfee, or could continue under the current ownership structure.

McAfee was valued at $2.15 billion, or $4.2 billion, including debt three years ago when TPG bought a 51% stake of the company from Intel, which had acquired the company in 2011.

The Wall Street Journal cited sources that said a McAfee IPO could raise at least $1 billion and value the company at more than $5 billion. The firm could be attractive as a public company in a sector that has traded well recently.

CNBC reported that a potential listing, if it comes, would likely be at the end of 2019 or early in 2020.

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