Symantec/VERITAS Merger Clears Hart-Scott-Rodino Review

TORONTO, ON - January 27, 2005 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) and VERITAS Software Corp. (Nasdaq: VRTS) today announced that the 30-day waiting period imposed by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act concerning the proposed merger of Symantec and VERITAS expired on Jan. 26, 2005 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Completion of the transaction, expected during the second calendar quarter, still requires satisfaction of certain conditions, including obtaining shareholder approvals of both companies and completion of regulatory approvals in certain other jurisdictions.

The companies announced on Dec. 16, 2004 a definitive agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction. Under the agreement, VERITAS stock will be converted into Symantec stock at a fixed exchange ratio of 1.1242 shares of Symantec common stock for each outstanding share of VERITAS common stock. Upon closing, Symantec shareholders will own approximately 60 percent and VERITAS shareholders approximately 40 percent of the combined company. The transaction is expected to be tax-free to shareholders of both companies for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

About VERITAS Software
VERITAS Software, one of the 10 largest software companies in the world, is a leading provider of software to enable utility computing. In a utility computing model, IT resources are aligned with business needs and business applications are delivered with optimal performance and availability on top of shared computing infrastructure, minimizing hardware and labor costs. With 2003 revenues of $1.75 billion, VERITAS delivers products and services for data protection, storage and server management, high availability and application performance management that are used by 99 percent of the Fortune 500. More information about VERITAS Software can be found at www.VERITAS.com.

About Symantec
Symantec, the world leader in Internet security technology, provides a broad range of content and network security software and appliance solutions to individuals, enterprises and service providers. The company is a leading provider of client, gateway and server security solutions for virus protection, firewall and virtual private network, vulnerability management, intrusion detection, Internet content and e-mail filtering, remote management technologies and security services to enterprises and service providers around the world. Symantec's Norton brand of consumer security products is a leader in worldwide retail sales and industry awards. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has worldwide operations in 36 countries. For more information, please visit www.symantec.com.

Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. For more information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian Web site at www.symantec.ca. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

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Symantec and the Symantec logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation in the United States and certain other countries. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.

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