This article is more than 1 year old

Cisco (finally) acquires Norwegian video conferencer

Tandberg borged

At long last, Cisco has completed its acquisition of Norwegian video conferencing outfit Tandberg.

On Monday, the networking behemoth said that it had completed its "voluntary" offer for Tandberg and that it has launched a compulsory acquisition for the company's remaining shares. Following the completion of the compulsory acquisition - due at the close of business today - Cisco will have landed all Tandberg shares for a total of 19 billion Norwegian kroner or $3.3 billion. That's 170 kroner a share.

Currently, following the completion of the voluntary offer, Cisco controls 91.1 per cent of the company's shares.

"Today we are celebrating a very important step for our customers in the journey to put people at the center of collaboration and change the way we work," read a canned statement from Marthin De Beer, senior vice president for Cisco's emerging technologies business group.

"We strongly believe that telepresence – the next generation of videoconferencing – along with Cisco's entire rich collaboration portfolio, powers this new way of working where everyone, everywhere, can be more productive through the pervasive use of video and face-to-face collaboration."

Tandberg's products will be rolled into the Cisco TelePresence line, and Tandberg CEO Fredrik Halvorsen will become a Cisco senior vice president, heading a new TelePresence Technology Group, part of De Beer's organization.

In October, Cisco made an initial bid for Tandberg of 153.50 kroner a share, but shareholders wanted more. The company upped its bid to 170 kroner in November. ®

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like