SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McAfee today reached a major milestone in its acquisition of Stonesoft Oyj by completing the tender offer that was announced on May 6. Stonesoft’s innovative, high performance technology meets the needs of distributed enterprises, both today and tomorrow, and its world-class next-generation firewall is positioned as “visionary” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewalls. With the completion of the tender offer, Stonesoft is now a McAfee group company, and all Stonesoft products and technologies are part of the McAfee portfolio.

The enterprise network security equipment market is forecast to grow at a 7.0 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during the next five years and reach $11.4 billion by 2017, according to Gartnerⁱ. With more than 7200 employees and its dedicated focus on security, McAfee already has a substantial presence in the network security space. With the addition of Stonesoft, the company expects to rapidly emerge as the leading provider of enterprise firewall technology. Organizations can benefit from McAfee’s Security Connected strategy, as Stonesoft’s products become integrated with other products from McAfee’s broad portfolio.

“This acquisition provides McAfee with a clear competitive advantage in the network security space and the industry has taken notice,” said Michael DeCesare, president of McAfee. “We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from analysts and customers. With the addition of one of the industry’s best next-generation firewalls, we now have one of the most complete and effective network security portfolios in the industry.”

The Stonesoft team will become a part of the Network Security Business Unit led by Pat Calhoun. Based in Helsinki, Finland, Stonesoft is trusted by more than 6,500 customers around the globe. Stonesoft’s customer base can now benefit from an integrated, comprehensive security solution through McAfee.

“McAfee’s Security Connected strategy brings together industry-leading solutions to address the increasing number of advanced threats facing businesses from the network to the cloud,” said Ilkka Hiidenheimo, founder and chief executive officer of Stonesoft. “With innovative technology that can be deployed as an appliance, as software or virtually, McAfee’s customers will be positioned to meet the high-performance needs of demanding, secure, distributed networks today and in the future.”

About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. The company delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

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ⁱ Gartner, Forecast Analysis: Enterprise Network Equipment, Worldwide, 1Q13 Update, Naresh Singh, et al, May 23, 2013.