Extreme Networks announced today that it has emerged as the victor in a bidding process to acquire Avaya’s enterprise networking business.
The purchase price is approximately $100 million, which is the same amount that Extreme Networks initially bid in March. Avaya has been under bankruptcy protection since January and is shedding its assets to reduce debt load.
As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, another firm could have potentially outbid Extreme Networks, but that didn’t occur.
“This is great news. The Avaya networking business will become part of a company exclusively focused on networking and addressing the needs of our networking customers,” Avaya Networking SVP and GM Marc Randall stated. “By combining Avaya Networking’s innovative products and solutions with Extreme’s industry leading portfolio, we will enable customers to compete in new ways with more advanced and competitive solutions. “
Avaya originally acquired its IP Networking assets from Nortel Networks for $900 million in Dec. 2009. Nortel Networks was also shedding assets as part of bankruptcy proceedings. However in Nortel’s case, Avaya’s initial bid was $475 million, which increased during the bidding process as competitive offers came into play.
Extreme Network’s acquisition of Avaya’s enterprise networking business is expected to be completed by July 1
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
