It is the second acquisition Cisco has announced this calendar year, and is expected to close by the fourth quarter. SignalWorks is privately held and was founded in 1994. It employs just nine people and does not disclose its annual revenue.
IP telephony allows data, voice and video to be transmitted over a single network. This market is expected to grow from about $900m last year to $4.3bn in 2006, according to research firm Synergy Research Group.
The acquisition of SignalWorks reinforces Cisco’s continued commitment to leadership in IP telephony, said Marthin De Beer, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Enterprise Voice and Video Business Unit.
Cisco also took the opportunity to announce that its board had authorized the repurchase of an additional $5bn worth of company stock. Companies usually buy back shares to prevent dilution that occurs when they issue new stock as part of their stock option grants. Buybacks can also increase earnings per share by decreasing the number of shares outstanding.
At the end of January, the San Jose, California-based company had about $21bn in cash and investments.
Source: Computerwire
