February 13th, 2008
3Com may divest TippingPoint to seal takeover with Feds
Bain Capital, the private equity firm trying to engineer a takeover of 3Com with Huawei Technologies, is reportedly offering to divest security software firm TippingPoint to win U.S. approval.
According to Reuters, Bain offered up TippingPoint and other proposals to safeguard national security interests.
In September, 3Com agreed to a $2.2 billion buyout by Bain. In the deal, Huawei would own about 16 percent of 3Com. The move raised hackles from the US. Committee on Foreign Investment almost immediately since 3Com is a supplier to the Pentagon and TippingPoint also has critical intrusion detection technology.
If divested, TippingPoint would once again be on track to be independent. TippingPoint was slated for an IPO before the 3Com acquisition.
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.
