Symantec To Sell Veritas To Investor Group Led By Carlyle For $8 Bln In Cash

(RTTNews) - Symantec Corp. (SYMC) said it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its information management business, known as Veritas, to an investor group led by The Carlyle Group together with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, and other expected co-investors for $8 billion in cash.

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by Symantec's Board of Directors, is expected to close by January 1, 2016.

Upon closing of the transaction, Symantec expects to receive about $6.3 billion in net cash proceeds. Symantec will take a comprehensive and disciplined approach to capital deployment focused on both returning capital to shareholders and investing in the business.

The Symantec Board has authorized a $1.5 billion increase to its existing share repurchase program, bringing the total to $2.6 billion. Of this, $2 billion is expected to be returned to shareholders over the 18 month period following the close of the transaction.

The Board has also determined that Symantec will maintain its quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per common share. Between its dividend and share repurchases, Symantec expects to return about 120 percent of its after-tax domestic cash proceeds from the sale to its shareholders.

The Carlyle Group has announced separately that Bill Coleman and Bill Krause would become CEO and Chairman, respectively, of Veritas upon closing of the transaction.