security software
Norton is allowed to take over Avast
Two antivirus experts want to merge. Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In order to keep the computer as virus-free as possible, many private users rely on common security software. Two market leaders can now join forces.
The Federal Cartel Office has given the green light for the planned takeover of British security software provider Avast by NortonLifeLock from the USA. The two antivirus experts agreed on a merger worth around 8 billion US dollars last August.
Avast and NortonLifeLock, along with AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, BullGuard, Eset, F-Secure, G Data, Kaspersky, McAfee, Sophos, Trend Micro and others, are among the relevant vendors in the virus and malware protection software market.
The President of the Bundeskartellamt, Andreas Mundt, explained that the merger of Norton and Avast would create a leading global provider of security software for private users, which also has very high market shares in Germany. “However, private users’ need to protect their end devices against malware is increasingly being met by security solutions integrated into operating systems and applications from platform operators.”
These solutions have an increasingly high level of protection and are sometimes made available to users free of charge. “There will therefore be sufficient competition even after the merger.” The solutions from the operating system manufacturers include Microsoft Defender for Windows PCs.
The Bundeskartellamt’s market investigations had shown that the functions integrated or pre-installed in operating systems, in particular to protect against malware, put considerable competitive pressure on the providers of independent security software. The market for security software for private users is characterized by rather low barriers to market entry, so that the transaction does not give rise to any competition law concerns despite high combined market shares.