NAI reverts to McAfee
Network Associates Inc. (NAI) to streamline and adopt (not so) new name.
In a bid to reduce costs and increase productivity, Network Associates, Inc. (NAI) has
announced plans to streamline its business and to change its name to McAfee, Inc.
The
company intends to focus solely on providing security products and services, and in
order to do so, is selling its network and application performance management business,
Sniffer, to Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group.
The purchasers, who are
expected to pay $275 million for the business, intend to form a standalone company named
Network General Corporation, which will continue to sell the Sniffer products.
Upon completion of the sale, Network Associates will adopt its (not so) new name,
McAfee, Inc.
The complexities of name changes and corporate re-branding can often seem a mystery to
the end-user. In this instance, the company is (more or less) reverting to its old name:
McAfee Associates merged with Network General back in December 1997 to form Network
Associates Inc. (see VB, November 1997, p.3).
While the company itself got a new name,
the McAfee product tag has remained in the public eye since 1989, making it an obvious
choice for the company's latest incarnation.
5 May 2004
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