Intel reportedly looking to sell cyber security business

Intel is said to be looking to sell its cyber-security division, as part of efforts to concentrate on higher growth areas.

The company has held talks with bankers regarding the sale of Intel Security, including the anti-virus software maker formerly known as McAfee, The Financial Times reported.

Intel bought McAfee for $7.bn in 2010 and later rebranded it as Intel Security.

The company has been looking to increase its focus to making chips for data center machines and Internet-connected devices due to falling demand in the personal computing market.

However, the chip giant still earns 60% of its sales and 40% of its profit from the PC market.

Private equity firms are likely to show interest in the sale as the cyber-security business has the potential to attract huge funds, the publication reported.

The report said that a group of private equity firms will likely acquire Intel Security jointly. They are expected to pay the same price or higher than the amount paid by Intel to buy McAfee.

In April, Intel announced that it would eliminate 12,000 jobs by mid-2017, as part of restructuring efforts to increase its focus on areas such as data center, IoT, memory and connectivity businesses.

It expected the program to deliver $750 million in savings this year and annual run rate savings of $1.4 billion by mid-2017.

The data center and IoT businesses delivered $2.2bn in revenue growth for the company last year, accounting for 40% of revenue and the majority of operating profit, which largely offset the decline in the PC market segment.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, in an e-mail to employees, said: "Our results over the last year demonstrate a strategy that is working and a solid foundation for growth.

"The opportunity now is to accelerate this momentum and build on our strengths."

In May, Intel bought IoT and self-driving vehicle technology company Itseez.com to expand its offerings in IoT space.

Itseez.com is a technology company working in the field of computer vision algorithms and implementations for embedded and specialised hardware.