Sources: Symantec and Broadcom have ceased acquisition negotiations as Symantec would not accept less than $28 a share; Symantec shares are down 13%+
KEY POINTS — Symantec and Broadcom cease deal negotiations, sources say — Symantec and Broadcom have ceased deal negotiations, sources tell CNBC's David Faber.
Context & Ripple Effects
The collapse ends a fast-moving arc that began just days earlier, when sources reported Broadcom was in advanced talks to acquire all of Symantec and the stock jumped on the bid premium. Symantec's refusal to go below $28 a share was the sticking point, and the market's immediate verdict was a double-digit drop that erased much of that premium.
The breakdown also lands on a company still carrying credibility baggage from its 2018 internal board investigation, which had already hammered the shares once before. What makes this moment pivotal is where it led: within weeks Broadcom returned for a narrower target, and by November it closed an enterprise-security buyout at $10.7B while Symantec itself rebranded as NortonLifeLock.
First-order effects
- Symantec shareholders immediately lose the whole-company takeover premium, with the stock down more than 13% as the $28-a-share floor goes unmet.
- Broadcom exits empty-handed on the full acquisition, leaving both sides to reset their negotiating positions from scratch.
Second-order effects
- Rather than walking away entirely, Broadcom comes back weeks later for a carve-out — the enterprise business alone at roughly $10B — showing the buyer wanted the assets, not the price.
- Symantec's standalone path hardens around its consumer franchise, setting up the eventual split in which the company keeps Norton and hands the Symantec name to Broadcom.
Third-order effects
- The episode is a template for the quasi-exit: a distressed seller holding out on headline price ends up divesting its strategic unit anyway, with the acquirer capturing the enterprise value while the remnant lives on as a consumer brand.
- If the pattern holds, large infrastructure buyers increasingly prefer targeted business-unit acquisitions over whole-company takeouts, letting them sidestep valuation standoffs on the parts they don't want.
The trend: Mega-acquirers like Broadcom are shifting from whole-company takeovers to surgical business-unit purchases when sellers hold firm on price, leaving the seller a branded remnant.