McAfee raises $740M in its IPO at $20 per share in its return to the public market, valuing the company at $8.6B
New York (CNN Business)Cybersecurity company McAfee is set … Chibuike Oguh / Reuters : Cyber security firm McAfee raises $620 million in U.S. IPO
Context & Ripple Effects
McAfee's return to the public market closes out a two-year process: the company first began talks with bankers for an IPO back in 2019, targeting a $1B raise at a $5B+ valuation, then filed with the SEC in September 2020 with only a placeholder size before upping its target to as much as $814M days before pricing. The final result — $740M raised at a $8.6B valuation — lands well above that original $5B+ aspiration.
What makes the story more than a pricing footnote is what followed in the corpus: the public run was brief, with Advent International agreeing roughly a year later to take McAfee private in a $14B deal carrying about $4B of debt — nearly double the IPO valuation.
First-order effects
- McAfee banks $740M at $20 per share, and its public-market debut prices it at $8.6B — above the $5B+ valuation it was seeking during its 2019 IPO preparations.
Second-order effects
- The $8.6B public mark set a floor that buyers were willing to clear: Advent International's subsequent $14B take-private, including about $4B in debt, implies the buyout firm valued McAfee well above what the public market paid.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, public listings function as transitional stops in cybersecurity ownership cycles — a way to reset valuations and provide liquidity before sponsors like Advent recycle assets back into private hands.
The trend: Cybersecurity assets are increasingly cycling through public markets as short-lived valuation checkpoints within longer private-equity ownership arcs.