Symantec Corp., best known for its Norton range of PC security software, has announced that the company has successfully completed the acquisition of MessageLabs, on Nov. 14, 2008.

MessageLabs produces security products for instant-messaging, e-mail and the internet. The company has regional headquarters in the UK, US and Australia and more than 8 million end users at more than 19,000 businesses.

The acquisition agreement between Symantec and MessageLabs was announced on Oct. 8, 2008. Symantec has paid $ 695 million to buy web security firm MessageLabs.

MessageLabs is the sixth acquisition announced by Symantec so far this year.

Market experts feel that with the buyout of MessageLabs, Symantec gains a leadership position in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market, which expands Symantec's existing portfolio of SaaS offerings with messaging and web security services from MessageLabs.