Extreme Networks is boosting its data center networking business with the purchase of Brocade Communications Systems for $55 million in cash from current owner Broadcom.
Broadcom bought Brocade last year for about $5.5 billion but sold off Brocade’s Ruckus Wireless business for $800 million to Arris International. Now, the data center networking business is going to Extreme, which is also acquiring Avaya’s networking business for $100 million.
"The addition of Brocade's data center networking business significantly strengthens our position in the expanding high-end data center market and reinforces our strategy of delivering software-driven networking solutions focused on enterprise customers," said Ed Meyercord, president and CEO of Extreme Networks, in a press release. "As Extreme is the only pure-play end-to-end, wired and wireless enterprise IP networking company in the world, we believe Brocade's data center customers will benefit from our dedication to delivering high-quality, software-driven, secure networking solutions and the industry's highest rated customer support."
The acquisition of the Brocade business, as well as its position as the stalking horse bidder of Avaya's networking business and the completion of the integration of Zebra's wireless LAN business—along with Extreme's organic investments in R&D—will result in a “state-of-the-art, newly-refreshed portfolio of enterprise solutions for our customers,” he added.
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Extreme did not disclose how many employees will be coming in the deal to acquire Brocade. The deal will make Extreme the only end-to-end networking company focused exclusively on the enterprise, according to Meyercord.
In January, Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to reduce debt. At that time, the troubled vendor made a decision not to sell its call center business.