FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.--Belkin said Thursday (Jan. 24) it will acquireCisco’s Home Networking Business Unit, which includes the Linksysproducts, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition willgive privately held Belkin, based in Playa Vista, Calif., a 30percent of the U.S. retail home and small business networkingmarket.
Currently, Belkin has a range of wired, wireless and powerlinenetworking products under the Belkin brand. Company officials saidthey will maintain the Linksys brand.
Cisco
acquiredLinksys for $500 million almost exactly 10 years ago,as the networking giant expanded its reach into home-networking.
The company spent years trying to find its way in the consumerworld only to begin to unwind or kill those investments beginninga few years ago, most notably endingproduction of the popular Flip video camera as smartphones took over that application.
Chet Pipkin, CEO of Belkin said, "Belkin’s ultimate goal is to bethe global leader in the connected home and wireless networkingspace and this acquisition is an important step to realizing thatvision.”
Specific financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed. Thetransaction is subject to various standard closing conditions andis expected to close in March 2013.
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