Network Associates UK secures PGP buy

Network Associates in the UK expects to fold in the operations of its latest acquisition, encryption firm Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). However, that's just the beginning of a complicated situation caused by the rapid clip of mergers and buyouts.

Network Associates itself is the newly named company resulting from the merger of McAfee Associates and Network General announced last month. Confusingly, in the UK the firms will remain separate until registration of the new company has been completed.

McAfee, based in Bracknell, Berkshire plans to move up the road into the offices of Windsor-based Network General. However, PGP had planned to set up a London office before the end of this year. Now, it seems likely that PGP will share the Windsor space, said a spokeswoman.

In recent years, McAfee has been one of the most active participants in M&A activity as it has grown from an anti-virus specialist to a fully-fledged network management concern.