New investors for BitDefender

“The BitDefender company is announcing its first external financial investment. The size of the investment qualifies BitDefender as the most valuable Romanian software company,” according to company representatives.

BitDefender officials declared that the company’s development plans led to the decision to open the door to new investors. The investment is intended to sustain the company’s external expansion plans.

The antivirus solutions producer estimates that total sales of security solutions will amount to some $100 million this year (€70 mln), with 95 percent of sales generated by exports.

BitDefender also holds the Romanian antivirus market leader position, with a share exceeding 40 percent. “We are expecting this to obtain 45-50 percent of the Romanian market in 2008,” said Softwin’s PR Manager, Cosmin Mares.

The company’s main competitors for antivirus solutions are Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro. The market was estimated to be worth €5 mln last year, and will increase by 20 percent in 2007, according to estimates by BitDefender’s representatives.

According to several IT market sources, the BitDefender owners have been negotiating since last year with an American investment fund for the sale of a majority share package. At the time the company was considering a listing on the stock exchange.