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"We do have the capacity to take on more debt if we need to ...
but that would certainly be one of the other reasons to go
public, as it changes the ability to do acquisitions. It gives
us a different type of currency," CEO Christopher Young told
Reuters on the sidelines of a cybersecurity conference.
Intel <INTC.O>, which paid $7.7 billion for California-based
McAfee in 2011, last year spun off 51 percent to private equity
fund TPG Capital [TPG.UL] at a $4.2 billion enterprise value.
McAfee has $2.6 billion in annual revenue, is very profitable
and has increased its valuation since the spin-off, Young said,
although he declined to provide details.
After buying SkyHigh Networks for an undisclosed sum, McAfee
bought Canadian VPN provider TunnelBear to add to its consumer
business, which now provides mobile security to more than 300
million devices.
Young said there are a number of companies McAfee looks at as
potential purchases, adding it has cash available.
"Going public is certainly something that's a possibility. We
don't have a set time frame. Our focus is on building the
business," he added.
Reuters reported last year that McAfee was raising $4.25 billion
in loans to finance a dividend and refinance debt, while sources
familiar with the deal had said McAfee was preparing for an
initial public offering.
Young said cloud protection is a big part of the company's
strategy, while enterprises are beginning to add mobile security
to their portfolios.
"Enterprises are a little bit behind where consumers are for
mobile security today but it's certainly something that's
becoming of greater interest," he said.
(Editing by Steven Scheer and Alexander Smith)
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