Europe - Smaller antivirus firms seen as takeover targets
May 13, 2004
Europe: Many of the region's smaller antivirus software firms are viewed as possible acquisition targets because they are developing cutting-edge technology, have expanding customer bases, low costs and provide a non-US view of the market. BitDefender (Bucharest, Romania) was the first company to develop a clean-up tool for the Sasser worm on 01 May 2004. It was shortly followed by F-Secure (Finland) and Kaspersky Labs (Russia), with Symantec (US) and Trend Micro (Japan), both global giants, far behind, according to a response time survey conducted by PC Welt (Germany), technology publication.
The widely expected consolidation is based on the notion that corporate customers want to buy all of their security products from a single vendor. Symantec has a 35% of the European security software market, followed by McAfee with around 20%, Trend Micro with about 14% and Sophos (UK) with 8%-9%, according to Gartner, consulting and market research company. Other European firms mentioned include Panda Software (Spain) and Norman (Norway). Most European antivirus makers do not have the cash or marketing power to compete with the biggest companies, analysts say.
The widely expected consolidation is based on the notion that corporate customers want to buy all of their security products from a single vendor. Symantec has a 35% of the European security software market, followed by McAfee with around 20%, Trend Micro with about 14% and Sophos (UK) with 8%-9%, according to Gartner, consulting and market research company. Other European firms mentioned include Panda Software (Spain) and Norman (Norway). Most European antivirus makers do not have the cash or marketing power to compete with the biggest companies, analysts say.