-=Symantec Corp (SYMC) : co has been approached about an acquisition by Thoma Bravo

• Reuters notes that confidential sources indicated that there is no certainty that discussions between co and the private equity firm will lead to a deal.

(Reuters) - Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has approached Symantec Corp (SYMC) to express interest in acquiring the Norton antivirus software maker, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

A deal could be the largest leveraged buyout this year, based on Symantec's market value of about $15 billion (11.47 billion pounds) and total debt of about $5 billion.

There is no certainty that the discussions between Thoma Bravo and Symantec will lead to a deal, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Symantec declined to comment. Thoma Bravo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Symantec shares jumped as much as 18 percent after Reuters reported the approach, and were up $2.72 at $22.75 in early afternoon trade.

Private equity firms Bain Capital and Silver Lake are also investors in Symantec. They could choose to participate in the deal as equity investors, as opposed to cashing out, according to one of the sources.

Technology has been a rich playing field for private equity in the past few years, most notably with computer maker Dell Inc's almost $25 billion deal to go private in 2013.

Thoma Bravo has been seeking to rapidly consolidate the cybersecurity sector. Last month, it announced a $2.1 billion acquisition of Imperva Inc (IMPV), and on Monday it announced the acquisition of another cybersecurity firm called Veracode from Broadcom Inc (AVGO) for $950 million.

It has also done deals with Symantec in the past, acquiring its web certificates business last year for close to $1 billion.

Symantec became more focused on cybersecurity after it sold its Veritas storage unit for about $7.4 billion to private equity firm Carlyle Group LP (CG) in 2016.