Intel is mulling a move to sell the AV business it bought from McAfee nearly six years ago, according to a new report.
The chip giant has been in discussions with bankers about a potential sale as it looks to restructure its business, people “close to the discussions” told the FT.
The firm announced plans earlier this year to let go 12,000 employees, as it continues to come to terms with a PC market in decline. The plan is to focus more on chips designed to support cloud computing infrastructure, according to the report.
Intel bought McAfee in 2010 in a $7.7 billion move that it claimed would help it offer the market security solutions at a silicon level.
However, as the report reveals, the Silicon Valley giant has yet to come good on these promises, so it might be looking to cash in on the business, which would be much prized by venture capital firms.
Bain Capital sold Blue Coat Systems earlier this year to Symantec for a whopping $4.6 billion.
Also, just this month, Vista Equity Partners bought authentication specialist Ping Identity for an undisclosed sum.
Last autumn Intel announced a new strategy for its security business focused on the cloud and endpoint, to take account of the ever-changing threat landscape.
Intel Security will aim to concentrate on improving visibility, simplifying management and ensure security teams can “close the loop” on attacks in progress in a quicker, more effective manner.
An Intel spokeswoman told Infosecurity that the firm was not commenting on the report.