Broadcom completed its acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems.
Brocade will operate as an indirect subsidiary of Broadcom and will be led by Jack Rondoni as General Manager. Previously, Rondoni served as Senior Vice President of Storage Networking at Brocade, having joined the company in 2006.
“We are pleased to complete this transaction, which strengthens Broadcom’s position as a leading provider of enterprise storage and networking solutions and enables us to better serve our OEM customers,” said Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadcom. “Broadcom has a track record of successfully integrating and growing companies we acquire, enabling us to offer customers a leading portfolio of best-in-class franchises across a diverse set of technologies. We intend to invest in and grow the Brocade business to further enhance its capabilities in mission-critical storage networking.”
Broadcom to Acquire Brocade for Fibre Channel Business
Broadcom agreed to acquire Brocade Communications Systems for $12.75 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion, plus $0.4 billion of net debt.
Broadcom plans to keep Brocade’s Fibre Channel storage area network (FC SAN) switching business and divest Brocade’s IP Networking business, consisting of wireless and campus networking, data center switching and routing, and software networking solutions.
Broadcom expects to fund the transaction with new debt financing and cash available on its balance sheet.
The companies said the deal is not subject to any financing conditions, nor is it conditioned on the divestiture of Brocade’s IP Networking business.
Broadcom said key reasons for the acquisition include the profitability margin for Brocade’s FC SAN business, which currently comprises vast majority of Brocade’s non-GAAP operating profit.
Extreme to Acquire Brocade’s Switching Business for $55 Million
Extreme Networks agreed to acquire Brocade Communications Systems’ data center switching, routing, and analytics business from Broadcom following Broadcom’s acquisition of Brocade. The deal is valued at $55 million in cash, consisting of $35 million at closing and $20 million in deferred payments, as well as additional potential performance based payments to Broadcom, to be paid over a five-year term. The sale is contingent on Broadcom closing its acquisition of Brocade, previously announced on November 2, 2016 and approved by Brocade shareholders on January 26, 2017. Broadcom presently expects to close the Brocade acquisition in its third fiscal quarter ending July 30, 2017.
