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Done Deal: Webroot acquisition closed

Done Deal: Webroot acquisition closed
Userlevel 7
Badge +48
Last month, Webroot entered into an agreement to be acquired by Carbonite. Today, I'm happy to share that the acquisition of Webroot has closed.

I’ve heard both Mohamad Ali, President and CEO of Carbonite, and our Webroot GM John Post share their vision for our company with employees over the past few weeks. It's inspiring to hear Carbonite share that they're going to build on what's already working and what customers love. As a combined team, we'll continue to build on this foundation for more innovation in the future. Webroot and Carbonite will offer capabilities from cybersecurity and threat intelligence, to backup and recovery. We will protect you on the front lines from the most dangerous cyberattacks, and ensure your information is safe not only from cybercriminals, but also from accidents, natural disasters and other unexpected threats. We will bring these capabilities to both consumers and businesses, through the buying channels they prefer.

I know Mohamad has spent time listening to customer and partner feedback, and he realizes some people have questions about the future and how the products they use will be impacted. I’ve heard him consistently reinforce that Carbonite acquired Webroot because they admired what the team does and the value customers receive, and there are no plans to change what's been so successful.

There are lots of things Webroot and Carbonite can learn from each other, and I’ve already seen commitment to building on the lessons we’ve learned at Webroot. Together, we look forward to bringing the best solutions to market to solve your security and data protection challenges.

For more information and to read more on the acquisition, please visit the Webroot Press Room.

19 replies

Userlevel 4
Badge +5
"The total purchase price for Webroot was $618.5 million in cash........funds secured under a new $550 million term loan. The interest rate on the term loan is a floating rate based upon LIBOR plus 3.75%"

That seems like an extremely risky venture; I really hope this works out.
"The total purchase price for Webroot was $618.5 million in cash........funds secured under a new $550 million term loan. The interest rate on the term loan is a floating rate based upon LIBOR plus 3.75%"
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/carbonite-closes-acquisition-of-webroot/
https://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/11338299-carbonite-closes-acquisition-of-webroot
I know Mohamad has spent time listening to customer and partner feedback, and he realizes some people have questions about the future and how the products they use will be impacted. I’ve heard him consistently reinforce that Carbonite acquired Webroot because they admired what the team does and the value customers receive, and there are no plans to change what's been so successful.
Sounds good. Now I (and we)'ll wait and see what actually happens. Waiting and watching...
Userlevel 7
Badge +48
There's a lot of excitement around this announcement today, that's for sure!
Now, re: what's ahead, Webroot and Carbonite will create an integrated cloudbased solution for your top security needs today, and a platform for us to build upon in the future. We'll be able to share more information about the combined companies as we know more through the year.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
The main thing I would ask, is that Webroot and Carbonite be as transparent as possible. Keep us informed of major and minor changes well in advance, so we can make preparations on our systems as needed. As an IT Admin I have to prepare my company if you make certain changes, so please, share your roadmap. What are your plans, what are you changing, what are you going to stop supporting. These are the type of things business admins will need to know. I ask not just for myself, but I'm sure every Business IT Admin customer you have will want this type of information. Thanks for the update thus far @freydrew.

Sincerely,
Userlevel 4
Badge +8
Sounds promising especially the comment: "..there are no plans to change what's been so successful".
Userlevel 2
Badge +13
Lessons should be learned from Symantec here. They purchased Netbackup back in 2005 because they thought that backup and security were related and could be synergistic. What they learned is that each unit was too big and too different. 10 years later in 2015 they had to split the backup unit back off in to a separate company. Maybe they got what they wanted from that (some patents) but in the end they couldn't effectively run both businesses.
Lessons should be learned from Symantec here. They purchased Netbackup back in 2005 because they thought that backup and security were related and could be synergistic. What they learned is that each unit was too big and too different. 10 years later in 2015 they had to split the backup unit back off in to a separate company. Maybe they got what they wanted from that (some patents) but in the end they couldn't effectively run both businesses.
Interesting observation. Let's hope it'll be different this time.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
WOW, a Veritas Backup Exec reference! Props for that one @Dirty_White_Hat! 😱
Userlevel 2
Badge +13
@NicCrockett I used to work for Symantec.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
@Dirty_White_Hat,

I still have some pre-Symantec, Veritas Backup Exec 9 and Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 8.0 installed on some old systems.
Userlevel 2
Badge +13
@Dirty_White_Hat,

I still have some pre-Symantec, Veritas Backup Exec 9 and Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 8.0 installed on some old systems.


Dude, that sounds like some Windows NT\2000 era legacy systems. I hope they are segregated from internet facing systems. I have helped companies get away from their "need" to run legacy Windows systems in the past. There might be workarounds to the thing that is holding you back. Let me know if you want help getting rid of those systems.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
I wish I could, but they are running extremely expensive legacy software. Eventually we'll have to because I can't install any of the client software on Windows 10. For now, management will run it for as long as absolutely possible.
Userlevel 2
Badge +13
I wish I could, but they are running extremely expensive legacy software. Eventually we'll have to because I can't install any of the client software on Windows 10. For now, management will run it for as long as absolutely possible.

I've only seen one application that ended up living in a VM. All the others I have been able to get to work on Windows 10. Where there is a will... At least when you put it in to a VM you can easily isolate it from your network while still allowing access from networked PCs.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
Trust me, I've tried everything. Windows 10 is out of the question for these apps. Windows 7 was out of the question for some of them. Some can't be virtualized and others can't be re-installed due to Adobe turning off the activation servers. What we have as is, is how it stays, until it's replaced.
Userlevel 2
Badge +13
@NicCrockett When you to P2V there is no re-installation and the applications don't know they are virtualized. You must make the fishbowl identical to the fishies natural habitat.
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
This is much more complicated than you realize and than I can get into. Simply put, it's more than just one server and it affects most every PC on the network. One server is virtualized, but the one that can't be is due to a connection to the hardware when it was installed. That's the simple explanation, but it goes way beyond that. Fixing this issue is a 1-2 mil investment.
Userlevel 7
Badge +26
@Dirty_White_Hat,

I still have some pre-Symantec, Veritas Backup Exec 9 and Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 8.0 installed on some old systems.

I have the old corp edition fro back when I used server 2003 instead of xp as a workstation lol
Userlevel 7
Badge +28
@remixedcat,

These are installed on some old Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003 servers.

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