Cisco Systems Inc. said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire the online meeting company WebEx Communications Inc. for about $3.2 billion in cash.
Cisco, the leading maker of routers and switches that direct data over computer networks, said it will pay $57 per share of WebEx. That represents a 23 percent premium over WebEx’s closing price of $46.20 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Shares of WebEx soared $11.21, or more than 24 percent, to $57.41 in early trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Cisco shares lost 4 cents to $25.81 on the same exchange.
Cisco said the acquisition has been approved by its board and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007. Cisco said it expects transaction to have an immaterial effect on its fiscal year 2008 earnings after one-time charges are subtracted.
The San Jose-based company has recently made a number of acquisitions branching out from its core business of supplying networking gear and into communications, social networking and other areas that help drive traffic over the network and increase demand for its core equipment.
Santa Clara-based WebEx makes applications that enable online group meetings and secure instant messaging.
“As collaboration in the workplace becomes increasingly important, companies are looking for rich communications tools to help them work more effectively and efficiently,” said Charles H. Giancarlo, Cisco’s chief development officer, said in a statement. “The combination of Cisco and WebEx will deliver compelling solutions accelerating this next wave of business communications.”
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