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Cisco to buy Wi-Fi equipment maker

Jan 14, 2005 1:28 PM

Cisco Systems this week announced a definitive agreement to acquire Airespace, a privately held provider of wireless local area networking systems (WLANs) for enterprise and commercial customers.

As part of the deal, Cisco will pay $450 million in stock and assumed options for Airespace, a 175-employee company that last year snagged a contract from IBM. Airespace’s security software is considered top-notch and its centralized WLAN systems are considered a complement to Cisco’s wireless products, which feature more intelligence at the edge of the networks.

"Cisco and Airespace are both committed to helping our customers take advantage of the productivity benefits of seamless mobility and computing by accelerating the adoption of intelligent, adaptive WLAN infrastructure," Luca Cafiero, Cisco’s senior vice president in the data center, switching and wireless technology group, said in a prepared statement.

When the transaction is closed, Airespace will join Cisco’s data center, switching and wireless technology group.