Stonesoft is to be purchased by McAfee in a deal worth £249 million ($A379 million).
Intel-owned McAfee said that it had "announced the execution of a definitive agreement to initiate a conditional tender offer for the acquisition of Stonesoft".
The move will boost McAfee's network security business, adding Stonesoft's next-generation firewall to its IPS Network Security Platform and Firewall Enterprise for the high assurance market segment.
Ilkka Hiidenheimo, CEO of Stonesoft, said: “The combination of the two companies allows Stonesoft to benefit from McAfee's global presence and sales organisation of over 2200 employees, best-in-class threat research and technology synergies. Combined, we believe we can offer our customers a world-class product portfolio with world-class support – all backed by Intel.”
Michael DeCesare, McAfee president, said: “With the pending addition of Stonesoft's products and services, McAfee is making a significant investment in next-generation firewall technology. These solutions anticipate emerging customer needs in a continually evolving threat landscape."
