The planned merger received the stamp of shareholder approval today in overwhelming fashion.
When announced in December, Symantec expected the deal to be worth $13.5 billion USD, but current valuation puts the price closer to $11 billion. Symantec expects the merger to close on July 2nd.
Some 95 percent of Symantec and 98 percent of Veritas shareholder votes were cast in favor of the deal. Early on, analysts were skeptical of the merger. One, Glass, Lewis & Company, called the proposed deal ill-conceived.
But the deal got a boost when Institutional Shareholder Services, a leading provider of proxy voting and corporate governance services, came out publicly in favor of the merger.
Both Symantec and Veritas finished down at Friday’s close of the Nasdaq. Symantec fell to $21.25 while Veritas hit $23.81. In the deal, each share of Veritas stock will be exchange for 1.1242 shares of Symantec stock.
Symantec CEO John Thompson will remain chairman and chief executive of the combined company, while Veritas Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Bloom will take on the role of vice chairman and president.
The two men hope to use the combined company and its broader range of services to compete with IBM, the largest technology company in the world, among other competitors.
Symantec offers a wide line of security related technology products. It offers antivirus, firewall, and other management services. Veritas ranks as one of the top ten software companies in the world, and is best known for its backup software offerings.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
