NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cisco Systems, the world's largest networking gear producer, said on Monday that it has reached a deal to acquire U.S. software company BroadSoft for 1.9 billion U.S. dollars.
Cisco said it will pay 55 dollars per share, in cash. Shares of BroadSoft rose 1.41 percent to 54.675 dollars in early trading after the announcement, while Cisco's stock gained 0.96 percent to trade at 34.575 dollars per share.
The acquisition was expected to close during the first quarter of 2018. Upon completion of the transaction, BroadSoft employees will join Cisco's Unified Communications Technology Group.
Analysts said the deal allows Cisco to further diversify away from its stagnating switches and routers business by giving it a stronger foothold in selling unified communications software to big telecommunications firms, according to CNBC.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbinstold said on Monday that the deal will help Cisco's enterprise clients and small businesses connect better with consumers.
"Every customer, when they think about their digital strategies, they think about how they interact with their customers," said Robbins.
"This acquisition of BroadSoft actually gives us the most comprehensive set of collaboration solutions for our customers," he said.
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