It's been more than a year since Avast and NortonLifeLock announced our intention to merge. One of the main reasons was to be able to put even more resources and expertise into new products and customer experience, thereby moving the entire cybersecurity market forward.

I'm delighted that last Friday saw the final necessary step on this journey - formal approval of the transaction by the UK court.

The merger of Avast and NortonLifeLock thus goes into effect today.

I spent a lot of time with Vincent Pilette, NortonLifeLock CEO, discussing how to bring our two companies together, particularly to the benefit of our customers. It was clear to both of us that the speed at which the online world is evolving is a significant threat to freedom in the digital environment. The conviction of the importance of protecting this freedom is something that both our companies have in common; we have both  always fought for users' online rights through our values and our products.

Avast has been a bit like family to me and many of my colleagues. I joined as an intern and ended up spending an incredible 27 years there. So today is not just a business matter for me, but a personal one as well, resulting in a range of feelings with which I write these lines.

Pride in what we have accomplished in the 34+ years of Avast's existence. The journey from a two-man founding team to a global company with almost a billion dollar turnover and a member of the prestigious FTSE 100 index has been just incredible. Over the years, the company has had more than 7,000 employees from different parts of the world, each contributing in their own way to building our brand. And I'm very grateful to every single one of them!

Nostalgia of something coming to an end. And the memories of all the milestones we've gone through. Avast was a pioneer of free antivirus, based on our belief that access to free online security is a basic human right today in the connected age. Our 435+ million user base is a legacy that we carry with us into the new company and on which we will continue to build.

Excitement about the opportunity to do even more great new things. I love innovation and believe that constant change is the only path to a true long-term success. Moreover, I can clearly see the synergies between the two companies, and I am convinced that together we will achieve amazing results.

So today, we welcome our new colleagues at NortonLifeLock and embark on the next stage of our journey together. We are at the start of building a new company that will change the cyber safety industry forever, and that will fundamentally advance the theme of protecting freedom in the digital environment. And I find this incredibly exciting. In the words of Winston Churchill, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Let’s go!