Cisco bought cybersecurity company Splunk for $28 billion – Kommersant

Today, September 21, American network equipment manufacturer Cisco Systems announced on the purchase of Splunk, a company specializing in cybersecurity and big data analysis. The transaction amount will be $28 billion. This is the largest transaction in Cisco history and one of the largest transactions since the beginning of the year. Cisco will pay $157 in cash per Splunk share, representing a 31% premium to Tuesday’s closing stock price. The deal is expected to close by the third quarter of 2024. If the deal falls through, Cisco will have to pay Splunk shareholders nearly $1.5 billion.

Splunk was created in 2003, its main product is systems for collecting and analyzing large volumes of machine data, allowing you to track security violations, operational failures, etc. Splunk has more than 15 thousand corporate users, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Porsche. The Wall Street Journal wrote in February that Cisco had already tried to buy Splunk for $20 billion, but then the deal fell through.

According to experts, the acquisition of Splunk will allow Cisco to reduce its dependence on its core business of producing network equipment. It has suffered in recent years due to supply chain issues as well as lower demand for equipment following the pandemic. “Cisco bought a good and synergistic business at a good price. It’s a win-win for both sides. This gives Cisco an advantage in the development of security systems based on artificial intelligence,” says Thomas Hayes, head of the Great Hill Capital hedge fund. Recently, Cisco has been actively developing in the field of cybersecurity. Since the beginning of 2023 alone, it has bought four companies, all of which are in one way or another related to cybersecurity. As experts note, since Cisco itself has assets related to this area, the deal may attract the attention of regulators.

Splunk shares rose 23%, Cisco shares fell 5%.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya