NortonLifeLock To Snap Up Avira For $360M; Baird Sticks To Buy

NortonLifeLock announced the acquisition of consumer-focused cybersecurity and privacy solutions provider Avira from Investcorp Technology Partners. Shares of the leading cyber safety solutions provider closed 2.3% higher on Monday.

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NortonLifeLock (NLOK) said that it will be acquiring Avira in an all-cash transaction worth $360 million. The company expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

NortonLifeLock CEO Vincent Pilette said, “We strive to bring Cyber Safety to everyone, and acquiring Avira adds a growing business to our portfolio, accelerates our international growth and expands our go-to-market model with a leading freemium solution.” (See NLOK stock analysis on TipRanks)

The company anticipates that the acquisition should add “3 points of growth” to its revenues and 1.5 million paying customers. The transaction is expected to be financially accretive in the first year.

Following the company’s announcement, Robert W. Baird analyst Jonathan Ruykhaver said, “We believe the freemium business model opens up another channel to new customer acquisition for NLOK while allowing the company to maintain the reputation of NortonLifeLock as a premium brand. We also remain positive on the opportunity for further expansion in EMEA for NLOK, and Avira may help accelerate those initiatives given its strong presence there.” Ruykhaver reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and a price target of $27 (37% upside potential).

Meanwhile, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 5 Holds and 2 Buys. The average price target stands at $24.70 and implies downside potential of about 25.3% to current levels. Shares have decreased by 22.8% year-to-date.