Leading
Anti-Spam Solution to Complement Symantec's Gateway Security Offering
HostReview.com
Wednesday, May 19, 2004; 12:00 AM
CUPERTINO,
Calif. - May 19, 2004 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the global leader
in information security, today announced that it has signed an agreement
to acquire Brightmail, the worldwide leader in anti-spam technology, in
a cash transaction valued at approximately $370 million. Brightmail's
market-leading anti-spam technology will be a key complement to Symantec's
broad array of gateway security solutions.
The acquisition,
conditioned upon customary regulatory approval, is expected to close by
early July. It is too early to estimate the impact of intangibles on GAAP
results from this transaction. As such, Symantec intends to discuss the
impact, if any, on GAAP and non-GAAP results at some point in the future.
"Spam
has increasingly become one of the most severe threats to individuals
and enterprises today, topping viruses as the number one problem plaguing
email systems and administrators," said John W. Thompson, Symantec
chairman and chief executive officer. "Brightmail is the leader in
helping enterprises, service providers, and wireless carriers mitigate
this threat. Their patented technology is a critical component of a comprehensive
gateway security solution."
"We've
built a complete spam defense offering that includes multiple technologies
such as proactive heuristic and reputation-based blocking for the most
robust, multi-layered defense, providing the highest accuracy rating in
the industry, " said Enrique Salem, Brightmail president and chief
executive officer. "By joining forces with Symantec, we can provide
our combined base of customers around the world with the broadest messaging
security solution in the industry."
Brightmail's
industry-leading anti-spam technology protects the networks of enterprises,
service providers, and wireless carriers by filtering spam, viruses and
undesired messages at the Internet gateway. Brightmail Anti-SpamTM uses
multiple proprietary technologies, a globally deployed detection network,
and a dynamic rule delivery mechanism to identify and filter unsolicited
or unwanted electronic messages while reducing the number of blocked legitimate
e-mails, or false positives, to less than one message in a million.
Brightmail
Anti-Virus™ already combines Symantec's award-winning antivirus
technology with Brightmail's high-performance, scalable architecture.
By stopping and cleaning infected messages at the Internet gateway, Brightmail
Anti-Virus is the solution for the world's largest service providers to
protect their networks and end-users from the threat of email-borne viruses.
The Brightmail
Reputation Service complements its anti-spam product, providing businesses
with an additional level of security against messaging security threats
by allowing them to block messages from identified spam sources. Brightmail
Anti-Fraud protects established businesses from fraudulent e-mails that
mimic legitimate communications in order to steal financial or personal
data.
Symantec
made a strategic investment in Brightmail in July 2000 and currently holds
an approximately 11 percent equity stake in the company. Subsequent to
the filing of a registration statement in March 2004 for an initial public
offering, Brightmail's board of directors and stockholders determined
the combination with Symantec to be a more favorable strategic alternative.
About Brightmail
Brightmail, the global anti-spam market leader delivers technology that
makes messaging environments secure and manageable. PC Magazine's EDITORS
CHOICE for best enterprise anti-spam software, Brightmail Anti-Spam protects
the email networks of businesses, government agencies, and service providers,
blocking unsolicited bulk email, or "spam", while assuring that
legitimate mail is reliably delivered. Brightmail protects over 1,800
enterprises globally, including Avaya, eBay, Bechtel, Booz Allen Hamilton,
Cisco, Cypress Semiconductors, Deutsche Bank, Eastman, Lucent Technologies,
Macromedia, Microsoft, Motorola, SAS and Terra Lycos. Brightmail also
provides spam protection for the leading Internet service providers, including
AT&T WorldNet, Cox Communications, EarthLink, MSN, TelstraClear, Xtra
and Verizon Online. Brightmail now protects approximately 300 million
mailboxes worldwide. For more information, visit www.brightmail.com.
About Symantec
Symantec is the global leader in information security providing a broad
range of software, appliances and services designed to help individuals,
small and mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises secure and manage
their IT infrastructure. Symantec's Norton brand of products is the worldwide
leader in consumer security and problem-solving solutions. Headquartered
in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 35 countries.
More information is available at www.symantec.com.
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