Breaking New for Today:
Antivirus company Avast Software is planning to acquire Dutch rival AVG Technologies for $1.3 Billion in cash.
Avast announced today that it would buy Amsterdam-based AVG Technologies for $25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.3 Billion in an aim to expand its presence in the emerging markets.
With more than 230 Million users worldwide, Avast provides
Two Security Pioneers Unite to Strengthen their Global Leadership in Internet Security— Avast Software, an industry-leading maker of the most trusted security software in the world, and AVG Technologies N.V.REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and AMSTERDAM, July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Avast Software, an industry-leading maker of the most trusted security software in the world, and AVG Technologies N.V., (NYSE: AVG), a developer of business, mobile and PC device security software applications, today announced that they have entered into a purchase agreement in which Avast will offer to purchase all of the outstanding ordinary shares of AVG for $25.00 per share in cash, for a total consideration of approximately $1.3B. Both companies are industry pioneers founded in the Czech Republic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, that expanded internationally in the 2000s, and now will be combining complementary strengths to position Avast for continued growth in the security industry. Avast is pursuing this acquisition to gain scale, technological depth and geographical breadth so that the new organization can be in a position to take advantage of emerging growth opportunities in Internet Security as well as organizational efficiencies. The technological depth and geographical reach will help Avast serve customers with more advanced security offerings in the core business and new innovations in emerging markets, such as security for IoT devices. Combining Avast’s and AVG’s users, the organization will have a network of more than 400 million endpoints, of which 160 million are mobile, that act as de facto sensors, providing information about malware to help detect and neutralize new threats as soon as they appear. This increase in scale will enable Avast to create more technically advanced personal security and privacy products. This transaction has been unanimously approved by the Management Board and Supervisory Board of Avast. The Management Board and Supervisory Board of AVG approved and support the transaction and recommend the offer for acceptance to the AVG shareholders. “We are in a rapidly changing industry, and this acquisition gives us the breadth and technological depth to be the security provider of choice for our current and future customers,” said Vince Steckler, chief executive officer of Avast Software. “Combining the strengths of two great tech companies, both founded in the Czech Republicand with a common culture and mission, will put us in a great position to take advantage of the new opportunities ahead, such as security for the enormous growth in IoT.” “We believe that joining forces with Avast, a private company with significant resources, fully supports our growth objectives and represents the best interests of our stockholders,” said Gary Kovacs, chief executive officer, AVG. “Our new scale will allow us to accelerate investments in growing markets and continue to focus on providing comprehensive and simple-to-use solutions for consumers and businesses alike. As the definition of online security continues to shift from being device-centric, to being concerned with devices, data and people, we believe the combined company, with the strengthened value proposition, will emerge as a leader in this growing market.” The Transaction The transaction is structured as an all-cash tender offer for all outstanding ordinary shares of AVG at a price of$25.00 per share in cash. Avast plans to finance the transaction using cash balances on hand and committed debt financing from third party lenders. Avast has received a financing commitment of $1.685 billion fromCredit Suisse Securities, Jefferies and UBS Investment Bank. In addition, Avast has contributed $150 million in equity investment to fund the transaction. The proposed transaction is not subject to a financing condition. The offer price represents a 33% premium over the July 6, 2016 closing price and a premium of 32% over the average volume weighted price per share over the past six months.The contemplated tender offer will be subject to certain shareholder approvals, the receipt of regulatory clearances, the tender of at least 95% of the outstanding ordinary shares of AVG or, if AVG shareholders approve the asset sale contemplated in the purchase agreement, the tender of at least 80% of the outstanding ordinary shares of AVG, and other customary closing conditions. Additionally, certain shareholders including funds affiliated with TA Associates, who hold approximately 13% of the issued and outstanding shares of AVG, respectively, have committed to support the transaction and tender their shares in the offer. If at least 95% of the outstanding ordinary shares of AVG are acquired in the contemplated tender offer, Avast expects to acquire the ordinary shares of AVG that were not tendered into the tender offer through the compulsory share acquisition process under Section 2:92a/2:201a of the Dutch Civil Code. If AVG’s shareholders approve the asset sale contemplated in the purchase agreement at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be convened shortly by AVG and the tender offer is successfully completed with Avast acquiring less than 95% but at least 80% of the outstanding ordinary shares of AVG, then Avast plans to effect an asset sale pursuant to which Avast will acquire substantially all of the assets, and assume substantially all of the liabilities, of AVG promptly following the tender offer. Following the completion of the asset sale, AVG will be liquidated and the remaining minority shareholders of AVG will receive cash distributions with respect to each ordinary share owned by them equal to the per share cash consideration paid in the tender offer less any applicable dividend withholding tax or any other taxes. The offer will be described in more detail in a tender offer statement on Schedule TO to be filed by Avast and a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 to be filed by AVG. The transaction is expected to close sometime between September 15, and October 15, 2016, depending on the timing of regulatory review. Advisors Jefferies International Limited is acting as exclusive financial advisor, and White & Case LLP and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V. are acting as legal advisors, to Avast. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is acting as financial advisor to AVG and Bridge Street Securities, LLC is acting as independent financial advisor to the supervisory board of AVG. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Allen & Overy LLP are acting as legal advisors to AVG.  About Avast Avast Software (www.avast.com), maker of the most trusted mobile and PC security in the world, protects 230 million people and businesses with its security applications. In business for over 25 years, Avast is one of the early innovators in the security business, with a portfolio that includes security and privacy products for PC, Mac, Android and iOS, and premium suites and services for business. In addition to being top-ranked by consumers on popular download portals worldwide, Avast is certified by, among others, VB100, AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, OPSWAT, ICSA Labs, and West Coast Labs. Avast is backed by CVC Capital Partners, one of the leading global private equity and investment advisory firms.  About AVG (NYSE: AVG) AVG is a leading provider of software services to secure devices, data and people. AVG’s award-winning consumer portfolio includes internet security, performance optimization, location services, data controls and insights, and privacy and identity protection, for mobile devices and desktops. The award-winning AVG Business portfolio, delivered through a global partner network, provides cloud security and remote monitoring and management (RMM) solutions that protect small and medium businesses around the world. For more information visit www.avg.com. Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking information that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “should,” “will,” “expect,” “are confident that,” “objective,” “projection,” “forecast,” “goal,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “effort,” “target,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terms. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These factors include risks and uncertainties related to, among other things: general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which Avast and AVG operate; the uncertainty of regulatory approvals; the parties’ ability to satisfy the conditions to the contemplated tender offer and consummate the transactions described in this communication; and AVG’s performance and maintenance of important business relationships. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in AVG’s SEC filings, including AVG’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and neither Avast nor AVG assumes any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law. Additional Information and Where to Find It The tender offer referenced in this communication has not yet commenced. This communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any ordinary shares of AVG or any other securities, nor is it a substitute for the tender offer materials that Avast will file with the SEC. The solicitation and offer to purchase ordinary shares of AVG will only be made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase, a related letter of transmittal and certain other tender offer documents. At the time the tender offer is commenced, Avast will file a tender offer statement on Schedule TO, including an Offer to Purchase, a related letter of transmittal and certain other tender offer documents, and AVG will file a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9, with the SEC, each with respect to the tender offer. The tender offer statement (including the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and certain other tender offer documents) and the solicitation/ recommendation statement will contain important information. AVG’s shareholders are urged to read the tender offer statement and Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, as they may be amended from time to time, as well as any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, when they become available, carefully and in their entirety because they will contain important information that holders of AVG’s securities should consider before making any decision regarding tendering their securities. The Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and certain other tender offer documents, as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, will be made available to all holders of ordinary shares of AVG at no expense to them. The tender offer materials and the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement will be made available for free at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by AVG will be available free of charge on AVG’s website at investors.avg.com. In addition to the Offer to Purchase, the related Letter of Transmittal and certain other tender offer documents, as well as the Solicitation/Recommendation Statement, AVG files annual, quarterly and current reports and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any reports or other information filed by AVG at the SEC public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. AVG’s filings with the SEC are also available to the public from commercial document-retrieval services and at the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160706/386973LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avast-announces-agreement-to-acquire-avg-for-13b-300295132.html SOURCE AVG Technologies N.V. Investor Relations contacts: US: Bonnie McBride, Tel: + 1 415 806 0385, Email: [email protected] |
All of us at Avast raise our glass in a toast to all of you, the global community of people who help us keep cyberspace secure. You motivate us everyday, and we wish you the happiest of holidays and a New Year full of joy, peace, and security. Cheers!
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Avast engineers pull an all-nighter
It had all the makings of a classic hackathon: An all-nighter in a weird location fueled by coffee and good ideas. Located in the parking garage of our current Avast headquarters, R&D teams participated in the event with the goal to invent cool things we can implement in our new HQ building, which is nearly completed.
We dubbed the hackathon Párkathon, because our new HQ building has a sausage-like curve to it. In the Czech language sausage is “párek” + hackathon = Párkathon.
Here’s what it looked like:
The Párkathon started on Thursday and continued through the wee hours of the morning all the way through Friday evening. Some people were so psyched about their projects that they continued at home or even stayed at the office during the weekend to finish . On Monday morning, the epic hackathon ended with a demo session and attendees voted for the winning team. The prize was a barbecue party for that team. And they kindly invited all the other Párkathon attendees.
Some of the projects that came out of Párkathon include:
iZasedáček – an interactive version of the office seating plan. This app let’s people quickly find who sits where and localize empty chairs. It includes floor maps of the building.
Stairs vs. Elevators – devices for measuring stairs or elevator usage. Including HW prototype – every time someone crosses two laser beams, his walk through is counted. Other use cases are under development.
Waldo – a tool for the real-time search of people within the building using iBeacons and GPS. Users can send messages along with a location request inside or outside the building to quickly organize a meeting.
Hacked Earth – 3D visualization of geo-located data on Earth’s surface. Can be used for real-time display of virus attacks around the world or product information like the visualization of app installations. The plan is to use it at reception, meeting rooms, or for events.
FunMon – the real-time monitoring of table football and billiards usage. Uses HW sensors to detect facility usage and allows short-term booking.
Orchestrované zobrazovátko – a system for streaming content to TVs around the building. This is an easy way to show content on any TV. There is also the option to broadcast the same message on a group of TVs or even all of them.
Zasedačkomat – an app for wall-mounted Android tablets in each meeting room. It shows the room availability and allows you to perform basic tasks like reserving the room or releasing it for use.
3D navigation – printing of custom made direction signs for our new building. This task included learning to work with 3D printer.
MemeGen – system for internal memes and jokes.
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That’s what we wanted to find out.
More than 3 million phones are lost each year
To prepare the phones for the experiment, they activated three security apps: Our own free Avast Anti-Theft, Lookout Mobile Security, and Clean Master. They made sure that each phone was marked with contact information so it could be returned if found. Then, they randomly placed 10 phones around New York City and the other 10 around San Francisco.
It didn’t take long for the phones to be found and tampered with. Fifteen of the 20 phones were wiped clean using the factory reset feature. They only security app that survived the factory reset was Avast Anti-Theft.
That was just what our analysts needed to track the lost devices on their adventures.
On a slow boat to…India?!
One of the phones, lost in Battery Park, New York City, eventually found its way to Mumbai, India. At first, a long, slow journey across the Atlantic Ocean had our analysts baffled, until they theorized that the phone was aboard a transatlantic cargo ship. After two months, it appeared again in Mumbai. Using the app’s GPS feature, our analysts can see the new owner’s daily travels back and forth between work and home.
Analysts can see the movement of the lost mobile phone
A “theftie”
Not the kind of selfie you want on social media
With Avast Anti-Theft still working, our analysts were able to remotely activate the lost phone’s camera and take a picture of the thief, which we call a “theftie”. They got this from one of the phones lost at Strawberry Fields in New York’s Central Park.
Evidence for the police
After a San Francisco phone was found, our analysts gathered enough details that they could have easily gone to the police and requested the new phone owner to be tracked down. They knew that the person spent time in San Francisco, switched operators, changed the phone’s language to Spanish, got a new SIM card with a Los Angeles area code, and they even knew the last Internet service provider.
Only four of the lost phones were returned to Avast.
Quiana W. from Harlem, New York City found the phone on a park bench. Because she lost her own phone a couple of months ago, she was acutely aware of what it felt like to think your phone was gone. “I know what it feels like to lose things, a wallet or a phone, so I was just trying to pay it forward,” said Quiana.
Michael D. found a phone in a public restroom in San Francisco. “My initial reaction was to leave the phone where it was – it seemed a little suspicious,” Michael said. But he decided to play detective to find the phone’s owner and eventually found a note asking to return the phone. “I returned the phone because I don’t take things that aren’t mine,” said Michael.
“More than 3 million phones are lost each year,” said Gagan Singh, president of mobile at Avast. “Fortunately with Avast Anti-Theft, users have the means to track and recover a lost phone – or remotely wipe the data on it if it’s not recoverable. With all the personal data we store on our phones today, it’s a good idea to have a way to either find your phone or delete the content if you lose it.”
It’s safe to conclude that Avast Anti-Theft offers the most reliable solution to recover your lost phone. Install it for free from the Google Play Store.
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Hace unos días recibimos en Twitter un mensaje de Juan José, usuario de Avast en su teléfono móvil, en el que nos comentaba que, gracias a Avast Anti-Theft, pudo recuperar su teléfono perdido.
Juan José con su móvil recuperado gracias a Avast Anti-Theft
Mientras Juan José paseaba por Sevilla, se dio cuenta de que su teléfono móvil ya no estaba con él, lo había perdido. Su primera reacción fue llamar al número para ver si alguien lo había recogido y podía devolvérselo. El teléfono daba señal, pero nadie respondía.
Temiendo que quien había encontrado el teléfono no tenía intención de devolvérselo, Juan José dio unos pasos muy importantes en estos casos. Desactivó la tarjeta SIM y modificó la contraseña de su cuenta de Google.
Lo que no se esperaba es que, gracias a una acción que realizó anteriormente, iba a recuperar su teléfono.
Juan José fue previsor e instaló Avast Anti-Theft en su teléfono. Durante la instalación, introdujo un número de teléfono “amigo”, por lo que siempre que haya un cambio en la tarjeta SIM del dispositivo, el teléfono indicado recibirá un mensaje con todos los detalles de la nueva tarjeta.
Y eso es exactamente lo que sucedió. Al cabo de unos días, y sin tener esperanza en recuperar el teléfono perdido, Juan José recibió un mensaje de Avast informando sobre el cambio de tarjeta SIM en el dispositivo.
Gracias a los datos que el mensaje incorporaba, Juan José pudo contactar con el propietario de la tarjeta que, de buen grado, accedió a devolverle el teléfono.
Como ya explicamos anteriormente en el blog y tal y como hemos podido ver, hay que estar preparado por si alguna vez perdemos o nos roban nuestros teléfonos móviles. Instala gratuitamente Avast Anti-Theft en tu dispositivo Android.
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This past weekend, Prague hosted hundreds of web professionals at the Webexpo conference. Avast Software was a proud general sponsor of this event.
Avast was one of the sponsors of Webexpo
Attendees could meet our team at the Avast booth, try Avast technologies, and chat with our colleagues. They could also learn first hand how it is to work for the Best Czech Employer of 2013!
Come for a drink to our demo office at #WebExpo 2015! pic.twitter.com/nhsltDBnbh
— Avast Developers (@avast_devs) September 19, 2015
Those who attended the lectures could also learn from the Avast experts. It was the second time that Michal Augustýn, Avast’s Lead Software Developer was invited to a podium at Webexpo. Michal, who has worked at Avast for more than 7 years, designs and develops internal systems for Avast Virus Lab. He and his colleagues are the ones directly responsible for the security of our users. He talked about continuous development and improvement of Avast Backend infrastructures that allows us to send up-to-date virus signatures to protect millions of Avast users.
Another speaker representing Avast was Alena Varkočková. Alena proves that there are also geeky girls (YAY!) and that to be a great Senior Software developer at Avast Software, you don’t have to be a guy! In fact, Avast employs around 20% of women. Alena talked about a big project she was involved in: Developing the infrastructure to communicate with Avast users via in-product messaging. Thanks to their work, our users see pop-ups informing about program updates, monthly virus reports, or new threat alerts.
A third developer represented Avast Software on Webexpo’s podium – Marek Beneš. Marek, who has been with us for over 5 years, talked about the importance of monitoring your work from the developer perspective. He and his colleague Alena are responsible for development and continous releases of the virus signatures, delivered to the Avast users. They are making sure that you, Avast users, receive the best up-to-date protection.
An exciting event for the attendees of the Webexpo conference was the opportunity to ask questions to the co-founder of Avast Software, Mr. Eduard Kučera. Avast Software is considered to be the first Czech Startup and it became the most successful Czech IT company, with offices in Prague and seven other locations, to serve security products to more than 230 million users all over the world. Mr. Kučera said that the keys to our success were releasing a free version of the Avast product, great reception among its users who keep recommending Avast, and basically good luck.
Alena, Michal, and Marek are excellent world-class specialists in their fields. If you want to learn from the best follow Michal, Alena, Marek, and Avast Developers on Twitter: @AugiCZ, @alenkacz, @bblcz, @avast_dev. If you want to join the Avast team and work for a great IT company, check out our available positions.
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Our blogpost from a few days ago, NSA and GCHQ Have Been Spying on Antivirus Companies, contained our response to recent revelations that the NSA and GCHQ had been targeting antivirus vendors located outside the US and UK. The original story was published by The Intercept, and contained an image from a PowerPoint presentation listing all the potential targets which included Avira, AVAST, and AVG, among others.
We then issued our blog post indicating that our role as a security company is to keep intruders out – even if they might be governments. So far, so good.
Yesterday though, it was brought to our attention that a German website had published an article telling readers that Avira has been attacked by the NSA and that they should instead download AVAST, AVG, or G-Data, because they are more secure. This in itself is not an uncommon tactic and definitely no reason to go ahead and write a blog post – if it would have ended here. Which it didn’t: both AVAST and AVG have been removed from the list of targets (we’re not sure why, but perhaps to give the article more gravitas …)
Original from The Intercept (left) / Falsified image from freeware.de (right)
As you can see in the version reported by freeware.de, only Avira has been carefully encircled, while both AVG and AVAST have been removed.
Who is behind this? We are not sure, but we want our customers to be aware that this information presented is false.
The post We Focus on Customers, Others Play Dirty Tricks appeared first on Avira Blog.
Giri got his stolen phone back because of Avast Anti-Theft
A stranger broke into Giri C’s house last September. The thief looked through Giri’s belongings for something of value. He found a MotoE Phone and grabbed it. Mobile phones are an easy target because the thief can just slip in a new SIM card and resell the phone on the black market.
What this thief didn’t know was that Giri had installed Avast Anti-Theft protection. Avast Anti-Theft allows you to set up your desktop account or use a friend’s phone to remotely locate your device, lock it, activate the remote siren, or wipe its data clean.
When the SIM card is changed without the right permissions, Anti-Theft recognizes it and notifies you of the new number and geo-location so you can maintain contact with your phone. You can also activate a loud, customizable siren, which screams at maximum volume if the thief tries to silence it.
Giri reported the robbery to the local Bangalore police, and after a few days he received a call saying that someone had turned the phone into the station.
”When I received the phone from the police,” Giri told us, “the phone was giving the SIREN sound that my mobile is stolen due to the settings I have configured. I understand that the person who had stolen it might have tried replacing the SIM but he was not able to do it as it has locked the phone and the weird sound frightened him.”
The siren continuously and loudly says the following, by default, when activated: “This device has been lost or stolen!”. In the advanced settings of Avast Mobile Security you can customize what message the siren will sound, if you do not want to use the pre-set message. You can do this under “Select Sound File” or “Record Siren Sound”.
“I feel I recovered my stolen mobile only because of AVAST,” said Giri. “I thank your company for such a wonderful and useful product.”
Giri added a tip for other Android phone owners:
“More than using just anti-virus, it’s better to use software with proper tracking available which will be useful to avoid misuse of the phone, as similar features are not available in Android.”
Avast Anti-Theft is available on Google Play, where it can be downloaded for free.
Share your story with Avast
Have you experienced an attack or breach of your home network? Had your phone lost and/or stolen? We’d like to hear from you about your experience and how Avast saved the day — write to us with your story at [email protected]. If we post it on our blog, then we will send you an Avast goodie box. 
At the end of this month, Avast will end support for our older consumer versions of Avast Antivirus. Those are: Avast Free Antivirus, Avast Pro Antivirus, Avast Internet Security, and Avast Premier.
Update to Avast 2015 for maximum protection.
A good antivirus program is a necessity to protect your Windows PC from malware attacks, to keep your computer running smoothly, and to protect your online identity and personal data. Over the past 3 years, Avast engineers have improved our database of known virus definitions, the mechanism in which zero- day and widespread malware are detected, and the frequency of streaming updates sent to our customers. Avast 2015, with its unique Home Network Security feature which scans your home network for potential risks, is our best performing security product yet.
After May 31st, 2015, Avast will no longer provide security patches or technical support for versions 8.0.1497 and lower. Security updates patch vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malware, endangering your machine and the data on it. Please update to the latest version so you can receive regular security updates and benefit from the enhanced features and higher detection rates that protect your computer from malicious attacks. This update is also recommended because the latest version is compatible with Windows 10.
If you are running an older version of Avast, you can easily move to the latest version of Avast 2015.
If you need to update later, here’s a quick way to do it.
The update screen in the Avast user interface shows you the overall progress of the program update. When it’s done you will be asked to restart your computer. Click Yes to reboot immediately. Once the computer is restarted, information about the update may appear. If you are using a paid subscription, then your protection will be valid for the remaining period of your subscription.
Avast 2015 has better detection rates than older versions. Update as soon as possible for maximum antivirus protection.
If you prefer an older version of Avast and require technical support, you will be asked to update first before we can assist you. There will be no patches issued and technical support will end on May 31st, 2015.
