Cisco to buy BroadSoft

Cisco and BroadSoft have signed a definitive agreement for Cisco to acquire publicly-held BroadSoft, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD. Cisco will pay $55 per share, in cash, in exchange for each share of BroadSoft, or an aggregate purchase price of approximately $1.9 billion net of cash, assuming fully diluted shares, including conversion of debt. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company.

By combining BroadSoft's open interface and standards-based cloud voice and contact center solutions delivered via Service Provider partners, with Cisco's meetings, hardware and services portfolio, the combined company will offer best-of-breed solutions for businesses of all sizes and deliver a full suite of collaboration capabilities to power the future of work.

"Together, Cisco and BroadSoft will deliver a robust suite of collaboration capabilities across every market segment. We believe that our combined offers, from Cisco's collaboration technology for enterprises to BroadSoft's suite for small and medium businesses delivered through Service Providers will give customers more choice and flexibility," said Rowan Trollope, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Cisco's Applications Business Group.

The acquisition of BroadSoft reinforces Cisco's commitment to Unified Communications and enhances its ability to address the millions of ageing TDM lines poised to transition to IP technology and cloud native solutions over the coming years.

"We are excited about this transaction, which represents the culmination of a robust process undertaken by BroadSoft's Board of Directors to maximize shareholder value," said Michael Tessler, President and CEO, BroadSoft. "As businesses continue to move toward the cloud in search of simplicity and speed, joining Cisco will allow us to deliver best-in-class collaboration tools and services. BroadSoft's hosted offerings, sold through the Service Providers and aimed at small and medium businesses, are highly complementary to Cisco's on-premises and enterprise-centric HCS offerings. Together, we can inspire teams to create, collaborate and perform in ways never before imagined."

The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of calendar year 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review. Prior to the close, Cisco and BroadSoft will continue to operate as separate companies. Upon completion of the transaction, BroadSoft employees will join Cisco's Unified Communications Technology Group led by Vice-President and General Manager Tom Puorro, under the Applications Group led by Trollope.

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