Anti-Virus Maker Avast to Acquire AVG for $1.3 Billion

Two popular free antivirus software companies Avast and AVG, have similar sounding names, with both having the “AV” in their names. This has often lead to confusion, even among the employees in the companies themselves.

Now what if they decided to remove the confusion and combine into a single entity? This is what they’re aiming to do at least, according to Avast CEO Vincent Steckler.

History of Avast and AVG

Both of the companies were founded in Czech Republic in the late 80s with the same basic principle, fending off malware and viruses.

They were pioneers in the antivirus software industry and both offer free versions of their software. Avast and AVG have had similar userbases year on year as well.

Details about their Merger

AVG is a public company with its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Avast, however, is private and is planning to acquire AVG’s shares at $25 each, or around $1.3 billion in total.

AVG’s board is recommending its shareholders to accept the merger agreement. Once they accept the agreement, and several other governmental regulator approvals are also reached, AVG will become a part of Avast.

The merger is only natural due to the similarities between the two companies. The added userbase will help the new company to gather more malware data to develop better software solutions.

Vincent Steckler, CEO of Avast adds:

“Our website (and AVG’s) contains a lot more information about this transaction—the press release, FAQs, etc. As we are allowed during the process, we will convey to you, our users and customers, all the information that we are allowed. Most importantly though, I assure you that we value every single Avast and AVG user and will do our best in the future to keep you protected and to keep your trust.“

What this holds for the customers is still unsure, but from the looks of it, the companies may combine their collective expertise together and deliver better protection for users as a result.

But one thing is sure. You won’t confuse AVG and Avast anymore after the merger.

Via Avast Blog

Also Read: What’s the Best Antivirus Software for You? [Guide]