Intel Corporation Has Entered Into a Definitive Agreement to Acquire McAfee Inc.

雅瑶冬月

看来以后的Wintel平台除了Intel Inside之外还有McAfee Inside了。。。

Dear Valued Customers and Partners,

On August 19, McAfee agreed to be acquired by Intel. As you can imagine, this is big news for McAfee, Intel, and our combined customers. The combination of McAfee and Intel will significantly increase protection for our customers around the globe. It is our belief that performance, connectivity and security are fundamental components of computing and that our combined expertise will drive innovation in an increasingly connected world.

It is important for customers to know that McAfee will maintain and strengthen its security focus. Also, McAfee will continue its commitments to all partners, regardless of platform or if they are Intel competitors.

As with other Intel software acquisitions, McAfee will remain a stand-alone subsidiary, retain its leadership team and expertise. This will facilitate future innovation in security. Furthermore, this acquisition is driven to create new markets and is not about cost-cutting.

When the acquisition closes, McAfee and Intel will have the knowledge and scale necessary to capture the opportunity in security and deliver growth and value to our customers, partners and our combined shareholders. We expect that together the result will be increased safety, security and trust in everyday technology experiences.

The number of connected devices is expected to grow from 1 billion to 50 billion by 2020. This explosive growth of Internet and IP-enabled devices (e.g. Internet enabled TV, IP addressable cars, ATM machines, medical devices) is fundamentally reshaping communication, collaboration and commerce opportunities for individuals, businesses and governments around the world. Unfortunately, cybercriminals and cyberterrorists are misusing the Internet’s open and any-to-any communication architecture for malicious purposes, leaving many users at risk and the future of the Internet as we know it in question.

Cybercrime costs over 1 trillion dollars to society, the identities of hundreds of millions of individuals have already been compromised and dozens of governments around the globe have already been targets of cyberwarfare.

The current cybersecurity model isn’t extensible across the proliferating spectrum of devices – providing protection to a heterogeneous world of connected devices requires a fundamentally new approach to security. Frankly, the industry needed a paradigm shift – incremental improvements simply couldn’t bridge the opportunity gap. McAfee and Intel are joining forces to tackle this next generation cybersecurity issue which impacts everyone and anything connecting to the Internet.

Intel has always thought about the two key pillars of computing devices as being power efficient performance and Internet connectivity. Going forward, our two companies believe security has become the third pillar of computing – and it will continue to grow in importance – in all segments of the market. By bringing McAfee’s core security DNA within Intel, we believe we can offer better solutions and products to the market.

Intel has a successful software business built in part by acquiring companies, such as Wind River, that bring an expertise in solutions and services in order to deliver high-performance platforms to fast-growing sectors. McAfee is the next step in that strategy, and brings together security and hardware expertise that will better protect consumers and businesses and drive innovation across Intel’s product offerings.

McAfee is the best security partner for Intel – something they recognized based on many years as both a customer and successful collaborator on a variety of innovations. In fact, by next year, we will introduce new security offerings as a result of our collaboration.

Customers around the world have counted on McAfee to protect them in the past, and now more than ever, they can count on McAfee to protect them in the future.

During the close process as well as following the close, McAfee will continue to strengthen its security focus, customers and partners will experience no change in their experience or industry-leading service from McAfee. The expectation is that upon close McAfee will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, sustaining our focus on providing leading–edge security solutions, while gaining the benefits of Intel’s technology investments, market-reach, brand and global employee base.

This is very exciting news. There is no better partner that McAfee could have found than Intel. They share our vision for security, they share our vision of a connected world, and working together we’ll be far stronger globally and able to make a much bigger difference in people’s lives.

This pending acquisition is a great win for McAfee and our valued customers and partners.
For more information: http://www.mcafee.com

Regards,

McAfee Inc.




Additional Information and Where to Find It

McAfee, Inc. (“McAfee”) plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and furnish to its stockholders a proxy statement in connection with the proposed merger with Jefferson Acquisition Corporation, pursuant to which McAfee would be acquired by Intel Corporation (the “Merger”). The proxy statement will contain important information about the proposed Merger and related matters. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. Investors and stockholders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement and other documents filed with the SEC by McAfee through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov, and from McAfee by contacting Investor Relations by mail at McAfee, Inc., 3965 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara, California 95054, Attention: Investor Relations, by telephone at (408) 246-5223, or by going to McAfee’s Investor Relations web site at investor.mcafee.com (click on “SEC Filings”).

McAfee and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of McAfee in connection with the proposed Merger. Information regarding the interests of these directors and executive officers in the transaction described herein will be included in the proxy statement described above. Additional information regarding these directors and executive officers is also included in McAfee’s proxy statement for its 2010 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on May 10, 2010. This document is available free of charge at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov, and from McAfee by contacting Investor Relations by mail at McAfee, Inc., 3965 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara, California 95054, Attention: Investor Relations, by telephone at (408) 246-5223, or by going to McAfee’s Investor Relations web site at investor.mcafee.com (click on “SEC Filings”).

Note on Forward-Looking Statements

The subject document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including but not limited to, statements regarding the expected benefits and costs of the transaction, the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, and the expected closing of the proposed Merger. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed Merger, satisfaction of closing conditions precedent to the consummation of the proposed Merger, including obtaining antitrust approvals in the U.S., Europe and other jurisdictions, the ability of Intel to successfully integrate McAfee’s operations and employees, the ability to realize anticipated benefits of the proposed Merger, and such other risks as identified in McAfee’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009, and McAfee’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, each as filed with the SEC, which contain and identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. McAfee assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in the subject document.

chubbycat

Good luck to McAfee  

coredump

原帖由 chubbycat 于 25-8-2010 05:21 发表

                               
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Good luck to McAfee  

说说看，你们公司内部应该很关注这次收购的，有什么观点？

chubbycat

should not be a big impact since we're not just making anti-virus software

Rumors are: HP, IBM and Oracle wanted to buy us

chubbycat

Why Did Intel Buy McAfee?

Andrew Bond, On Tuesday August 24, 2010, 4:01 pm EDT

If Intel's (Nasdaq: INTC - News) acquisition of security software giant McAfee (Nasdaq: MFE - News) is any indication of what technology companies will be doing with the abundant cash on their balance sheets, perhaps they should follow Skyworks' (Nasdaq: SWKS - News) lead and just buy back shares instead.

Cash is king sometimes
Last week, I criticized growth company Skyworks for spending $200 million to buy back its own stock. Skyworks does spend much of its cash on research and development, but in a cutthroat industry that is expected to grow more than 42% in the next two years, there's always room for more R&D.

Many commentators and experts would have you believe that cash-flush corporate balance sheets are stronger than they've been in years. However, many companies have found little to do with all that cash; growth opportunities have stagnated as the economy sputters. This excess cash on corporate balance sheets is essentially just burning a hole in their pockets.

Intel: better than ever?
Just about a month ago, Intel trumpeted what it called its "best quarter ever." Company executives couldn't heap enough praise on themselves for growing year-over-year revenue by 34% in such a tough economic environment.

However, after a one-day pop following the initial news release, the stock has traded lower, revealing investors' flagging enthusiasm about future growth. Perhaps they were aware that Intel was about to purchase a software security company that occupies a totally separate sphere from Intel's core chip business, and at a share price that the McAfee hasn't approached since the tech bubble in 1999.

The upside
While the acquisition will pose some problems for Intel, it will also create important benefits and synergies. Intel had about $18 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet. It's now purchasing a company with relatively large gross margin of around 80%, compared to Intel's 65% in the recent quarter -- a figure some believe might represent a peak for the chipmaker. And with many analysts believing that chipmaking and security will become increasingly entwined in the years ahead, Intel would likely have to enter this business somehow. Unfortunately, the route it chose was on the expensive side.

The downside
Like fellow information technology giant Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News), Intel's stock performance has been lackluster over the past 10 years, even as it has increased earnings, maintained its lead in consumer-facing processors, and expanded its presence in servers. However, maintaining dominance hasn't been enough for investors, who look toward a future dominated by smaller, cheaper, more mobile devices. Intel has not shown the growth potential that investors are looking for in this sector, in part because it's been stuck with the label of "PC chipmaker." While Intel has belatedly made a foray into high-growth chip areas like the smartphone market, it's been unable to make great headway.

As a result, the company has sought growth in other areas as well. Companies such as Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO - News) now tout tight security integration with their routers and Ethernet switches. While Intel might be pushing security features built directly into its "instruction sets," it'll still need software that takes advantage of such features. McAfee could come in handy here.

The deal would also be more favorable if Intel were acquiring a company firing on all cylinders. Instead, it paid a 60% premium from Wednesday's closing price for a stock trading at fifty-two week lows. McAfee was having trouble with its own recent acquisitions, made in an effort to keep up with its largest security software competitor, Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC - News). McAfee's reputation also recently took a hit from a defective virus signature update that disabled Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) Windows XP operating systems on which its software was installed. McAfee blamed "inadequate quality control" for the meltdown.

I wasn't surprised to see McAfee get gobbled up by a larger technology giant; I simply expected Microsoft, IBM, or Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - News) to make the acquisition. Big buyouts like this one rarely fulfill the synergies their press releases often boast about. It helps if the companies are similar, and fit well into each other's business models. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily the case for this deal, which makes me wonder whether buying McAfee will benefit Intel in the long run.

coredump

又见大手笔！据报道，英特尔宣布将以每股48美元现金收购安全软件公司McAfee，此笔交易总值将达约78.6亿美元。
英特尔对此给出的理由是：公司目前的安全服务不足以覆盖手机、电视、ATM以及其他可与网络连接设备的安全隐患。该收购将整合安全软件与硬件两项服务，从而大大加强个人用户、企业和政府设备、服务器以及网络的安全性。英特尔首席执行官Paul Otellini称：“越来越多的设备允许与互联网连接，我们生活中的很多事情都将在网上完成。过去，能源使用效率和连接性是计算机性能的核心指标；而将来，安全性将成为计算机性能的第三大决定因素。”
McAfee凭借其杀毒软件而出名，近期曾表示计划在手机市场加大投入，并宣布将收购手机安全公司tenCube。此前McAfee已收购手机安全软件商Trust Digital。
由于这是继Oracle以74亿美元收购Sun之后IT界的又一次重量级收购事件，所以引起了业界广泛的关注和评论。
《PC World》详细分析了此次收购背后的原因：

1.英特尔需要McAfee收购而来的资产正如科技博客TechCrunch指出，McAfee最近收购了Trust Digital和TenCube，这两家公司均为移动安全服务商。Trust Digital可以为iPhone等智能手机的企业用户提供安全保护，而TenCube则是Android、黑莓、Symbian和Windows Mobile智能手机安全软件WaveSecure的生产商。
2.英特尔Meego计算平台的需要
要知道，英特尔正在与诺基亚联手研发Meego移动操作系统，该平台可以支持智能手机、平板电脑和上网本。如果拥有自己的安全公司，那么英特尔Meego在市场上取得成功的机率就更大一些。
3.变革中的英特尔需要安全
英特尔软件和服务部门负责人Renee James在接受媒体采访时说得最多的就是：“在连网设备越来越普遍的情况下，从连网电视机到移动设备，我们也有了越来越多的任务。” 她表示，英特尔坚信自己可以提升硬件设备的安全。

Gartner分析师Peter Firstbrook对此次收购提出了质疑：

我感到困惑。我看不出McAfee与英特尔之间有任何企业合并后的协力优势。最大限度来说，这次收购对于英特尔来说也许是一个很好的风险资本投资。他们在这个收购交易中也许还能得到一些研发的好处。

事实上，这个收购交易至少在短期内对赛门铁克、Sophos和趋势科技等竞争对手有利。每一个竞争对手都会利用在这个收购交易完成之前以及产品整合之前这段时间McAfee陷入混乱之中的机会。McAfee肯定会出现一些混乱。这对于赛门铁克和其它厂商来说是一样好消息。

把McAfee的安全技术集成到英特尔硬件平台可能是一个耗费时间的过程。英特尔通过与安全公司合作能够更便宜地和更快地实现这个目的。

这是不同的产品，不同的市场和不同的用户群。英特尔的发展是按季度和年计算的。而McAfee必须每天对安全威胁作出反应。一个是在这个堆栈的上面运营，一个是在这个堆栈的下面运营。

《福布斯》杂志网络版也刊文对此表示了不解：

从品牌提升角度看，以往曾有科技公司收购信息安全公司以提升品牌，例如EMC收购RSA。不过，英特尔收购McAfee并不是为了这一目的。英特尔已经拥有科技行业认知度最高的品牌之一，而英特尔的品牌也没有因为安全性不佳而受到负面影响。英特尔很少因为缺乏安全性而受到批评。因此，收购McAfee不会提升英特尔的品牌，相反却会影响英特尔的品牌。

从网络服务角度看，McAfee投入大量的时间和精力，使收购的Secure Computing成为一款优秀的网络安全服务。McAfee还有着最大的入侵预防(IPS)解决方案用户群。这引发了一系列疑问。英特尔是否会使多核架构支持这些网络安全产品？这对其他采用英特尔CPU的网络公司来说意味着什么？当它们使用来自直接竞争对手的芯片时将会有何感受？如果英特尔进行这笔交易是为了进军网络业务，那么英特尔为何将McAfee置于软件和服务部门？

从投资角度看，站在传统财团和控股公司的角度，这一收购将被视为英特尔在稳定的信息安全产业的一笔投资。那么英特尔未来的计划将是使McAfee的运营更流畅，盈利能力更强。英特尔是否会成为下一个通用电气？英特尔是否会寻求其他的投资机会？

国内社区也对此做出了反应。
江民公司策划部经理曹凌翔在接受媒体采访时称，对于英特尔出巨资收购McAfee的这一重大举措，确实感到震惊。英特尔可能在进行一项重大布局。

英特尔电脑安全方面曾经做出过许多努力。2008年，英特尔曾与江民联合推出SAMT安全主动管理技术，并进行过多次市场合作。但作为一家芯片企业，英特尔在电脑安全方面的众多举措，在当时确实令人费解。从其收购McAfee的行为来看，英特尔布局电脑和互联网安全，看来是蓄谋已久。

据称，金山、江民等公司纷纷表示，英特尔此举不会对国内杀毒行业格局造成变化，“McAfee此前在国内的影响力非常有限，不太可能影响国内杀毒市场格局”。
读者朋友对此次收购事件有何感想？欢迎发表看法。

katsura

fafafafafafa

[ 本帖最后由 katsura 于 22-8-2011 18:59 编辑 ]

chubbycat

agreed big time

katsura

fafafafafafa

[ 本帖最后由 katsura 于 22-8-2011 18:58 编辑 ]