Cisco to go ahead with Tandberg deal

US networking giant Cisco said it plans to go ahead with its 3.4-billion-dollar takeover of Norwegian video conferencing company Tandberg.

By (AFP)

• Follow us on
• 
• 
• 

Published: Fri 4 Dec 2009, 10:23 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 1:23 AM

Cisco said in a statement that it controls approximately 89 percent of the outstanding shares of Tandberg and had decided to waive the condition that it control 90 percent.

Cisco said it plans to complete the deal as soon as possible.

The San Jose, California-based Cisco offered 3.0 billion dollars for Tandberg on October 1.

It later raised its offer to 3.4 billion dollars after facing resistance from shareholders who believed the initial offer was too low.

Tandberg employs 1,500 people worldwide.

The video conferencing sector is benefiting from the economic crisis as firms decide to lower or eliminate the costs associated with business travel.

According to Cisco managing director John Chambers, the organization of collaborative work at a distance amounted to a market worth 34 billion dollars a year and was expanding rapidly.

Cash-rich Cisco has made a series of acquisitions this year, most recently purchasing Hong Kong-based DVN Holdings Ltd, a leading maker of boxes for delivering digital television broadcasts, for 44.5 million dollars.

Cisco has also agreed to buy San Francisco- and London-based Web security company ScanSafe for some 183 million dollars and wireless equipment maker Starent Networks for 2.9 billion dollars.

In March, Cisco bought Pure Digital Technologies, maker of the hot-selling Flip Video camcorder, and purchased Tidal Software Inc. the following month.