18 July 2002 Security software vendor Symantec has snapped up three small competitors for a total of $355 million (€353.1m) on the back of a 39% increase in revenues for its latest financial quarter.
Symantec said that it is acquiring Riptech, an Alexandria, Virginia-based supplier of managed security services for $145 million (€144.2m); Recourse Technologies, a Redwood City, California-based intrusion detection software developer for $135 million (€134.3m); and SecurityFocus, a San Mateo, California-based provider of threat management software for $75 million (€74.6m).
This acquisition binge was bolstered by Symantec’s strong 2003 first-quarter financial results. The company delivered revenues of $316 million (€314.3m), compared to $228 million (€226.8m) posted in the year ago quarter.
Driving this was a 35% year-on-year increase in sales for Symantec’s enterprise security business — including its firewall, intrusion detection and anti-virus software. Symantec CEO John Thompson said the company had closed 126 contracts worth more than $100,000 (€99,500) across all of its divisions in its latest quarter.
The market for security software and service is tipped by analysts for robust long-term growth, particularly in the wake of the terrorist attack on New York last year and the high-profile Code Red and Nimda viruses.
By 2011, organisations will spend ten times more of their IT budget on security than they did in 2001, according to analysts at the Gartner Group.
