In recent news, Cisco announced the acquisition of WebEx for $3.2 billion dollars. This equates to $57.00 for each WebEx share. Looks like some people at WebEx (2200 employees) are going to be RICH!

Cisco’s main reason for the acquisition was to have more of a market than just expensive routers. Now they can add to the mix, Linksys (Home and Business Office products), WebEx (video conferencing), and voice. It seems to me that Cisco is making a move to services and trying to become the “big dog” in video/voice arena. Cisco is trying really hard to offer more value than just very expensive routers and firewalls. Since 2006, Cisco has acquired the following companies:

  • WebEx
  • IronPort Systems
  • Reactivity
  • Arroyo Video Solutions
  • SyPixx Networks
  • MeetingHouse Data Communications
  • Orative
  • Metreos
  • Audium