McAfee Reemerges as a Cybersecurity Firm

After spending the last seven years as a sub-brand of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) McAfee is on its own two feet again, ready to run as its own independent organization in the cybersecurity world.
Back in 2010, Intel initially purchased McAfee as part of a $7.68 billion deal with hopes of implementing McAfee’s security capabilities into Intel’s chips.
While Intel’s revenue grew 11 percent in the first half of 2016 to $1.1 billion, the company eliminated 12,000 jobs last April and turned its focus to cloud computing.
Which brings McAfee to where it is now. In an announcement released by Intel, it states that McAfee “will apply greater market focus, build its platform and target new financial, operational technology investments to better understand the cybersecurity market’s significant global growth opportunity.”

Christopher Young, who will now act as McAFee’s CEO, said “cybersecurity is the greatest challenge of the connected age.”
“As a standalone company with a clear purpose, McAfee gains the agility to unite people, technology and organizations against our common adversaries and ensure our technology-driven future is safe,” he continued.
While McAfee will act as its own independent company, reports suggest that Intel will still hold a 49 percent equity, while TPG Capital will have a 51 percent interest. The deal was initially announced in September 2016 in a $4.2 billion deal–$3.1 billion in cash will go to Intel, while TPG will retain $1.1 billion in equity investment.
“A lot has changed in cybersecurity since Intel acquired McAfee in the first place,” Young said in an interview with Fortune. “There’s a real opportunity for us to go and do something special with McAfee as a standalone company.”
In a separate interview with Fortune Joel Fishbein, an analyst at BTTIG, said the decision is a good one.
“The fact that TPG got involved is a positive; they’re smart and savvy investors,” he added.
On that note, however, McAfee’s namesake doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. In fact, its founder–John McAfee– is suing Intel for using his name, and wants to rename MGT Capital Investments (where he’s currently chairman and CEO) to John McAfee Global Technologies.
While the suit is still pending, excitement is undeniably building around McAfee’s rebranding.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.