Extreme Networks, which also recently acquired Zebra Technology’s wireless LAN business and is bidding on Avaya’s networking technology, want to use its pure-play networking vendor status to grab market share from its larger rivals.
Extreme Networks on Wednesday said it has agreed to purchase Brocade Communications Systems’ data center networking business from Broadcom.
The move, combined with several other recent acquisitions by Extreme Networks, will help make the company a more formidable competitor to networking giant Cisco Systems.
“Cisco dominates the market. When we win a deal, it’s taking a refresh deal from Cisco, or winning a new deployment against Cisco,” said Norman Rice, Extreme Networks’ executive vice president of global marketing, supply chain, and corporate development. “With Brocade, we get yet another area where we compete against Cisco. ”
[Related: Cisco Reportedly Developing Standalone Networking OS ]
The deal, under which Extreme Networks would gain Brocade’s data center switching, routing, and analytics business once Broadcom finishes its acquisition of Brocade, is valued at $55 million, which includes $35 million in cash on close of the deal and $20 million in deferred payments over a five-year period.
