Intel has sold part of its stake in McAfee (formerly known as Intel Security) and now jointly owns the firm with private equity investment company TPG Capital.
TPG acquired a 51% stake of McAfee at a valuation of $4.2 billion, while Intel now owns the other 49%. The deal was announced in September and closed today meaning McAfee is now an independent firm once again and will go under that moniker rather than being called Intel Security as it was dubbed under the chip firm's sole ownership.
McAfee's CEO Chris Young, who has led the security arm since October 2014, confirmed the company has rebranded to help smooth the transition. Young declared that "As an independent company we have the freedom, the power, and the responsibility to innovate as never before" and that it's "the right move at the right time."
Young says the firm will now be able to focus more attention on cyber security and help organisations deal with the new and emerging threats in the digital world. As part of the spin-off, McAfee has unveiled a new strategic vision, which is comprised of three pillars: 1) innovation 2) trust and 3) collaboration.
Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, added that his firm would continue to support McAfee in its new guise as it worked to establish itself "as one of the largest pure-play cyber security companies in the industry."
"Security remains important to Intel, and in addition to our equity position and ongoing collaboration with McAfee, Intel will continue to integrate industry-leading security and privacy capabilities in our products from the cloud to billions of smart, connected computing devices." he added.
Last June, rival Symantec acquired web security firm Blue Coat for $4.65 million. It remains to be seen whether McAfee will follow a similar path and make further cyber security startup acquisitions to add to bolster its portfolio.
Intel acquired McAfee in 2010 for approximately $7.68 billion and rebranded it as "Intel Security" before announcing it was to be sold in September 2016. The company has opted to keep the name of its founder John McAfee, who is set to be played by Johnny Depp in an upcoming biopic based on his time hiding out in Belize.
