March 15th, 2007
Cisco buys WebEx for $3.2 billion
Cisco will acquire WebEx in a deal valued at roughly $3.2 billion. According to Cisco, WebEx will enable Cisco to extend the networking giant's "vision for Unified Communications, particularly within the Small to Medium Business (SMB) segment."
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco's fiscal year. Cisco has been on a bit of an acquisition tear of late.
In recent weeks, Cisco has acquired social networking sites that made some observers go "huh?"
The WebEx purchase is a little easier to follow. In the not to distant future, it's likely that WebEx services will be sold along with Cisco's video conferencing technology. Cisco said it will preserve WebEx's subscription business model.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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