Symantec, the creator of Norton anti-virus software, has announced it’s to become two separate companies, one focused on security, the other on storage and backup.
In a statement to Yahoo Finance, CEO Michael A Brown said: “As the security and storage industries continue to change at an accelerating pace … it has become clear that winning in both security and information management requires distinct strategies, focused investments and go-to market innovation.”
“Separating Symantec into two, independent publicly traded companies will provide each business the flexibility and focus to drive growth and enhance shareholder value,” he added.
According to Bloomberg, Brown will stay on as CEO of the security business, while John Gannon will become general manager of the information management business until the spin-off is completed, which is expected to be by the end of 2015.
Separation season
Symantec is the third company to announce a spin-off plan within the past fortnight.
Ebay got the ball rolling, revealing it will split its auction business from its payment service, PayPal. As with Symantec, the move reportedly followed pressure from analysts and investors to divide up the company.
HP then announced on Monday it was also splitting in two, becoming a separate PC and printing business, and an enterprise services business.
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