McAfee acquires Secure Computing

McAfee Inc has acquired Secure Computing Corporation for $5.75 per common share in cash, for a total equity value of around $418 million, besides redeeming Secure Computing's outstanding shares of preferred stock for nearly $85 million in cash. Altogether, net of cash held by Secure Computing, the transaction is valued at approximately $462 million.

Dan Ryan, president and CEO of Secure Computing, will lead McAfee's Network Security product business unit, reporting directly to Dave DeWalt, CEO and president.

''McAfee's market-leader position in end-point security and network violation prevention, combined with Secure Computing's position of strength in Web and email security, provides McAfee the singular opportunity of  providing protection from every angle, enabling users to fortify their defences with some of the richest technologies on offer now,'' said DeWalt.

To simplify security operations, McAfee plans to use the  McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator. Further, it plans to use Secure Computing's TrustedSource technology for an added layer of protection.

McAfee sees bookings for Secure Computing touching $30-$40 million post-acquisition for the period ending 31 December 2008. It expects the impact of the acquisition on fourth-quarter 2008 non-GAAP earnings per share to be neutral to slightly dilutive, and more dilutive to GAAP earnings per share for the same period.