VMware has signed an agreement to buy the US-based enterprise mobile security provider AirWatch for $1.54bn.
The cloud software maker will pay $1.175bn cash along with about $365m installment payments and assumed unvested equity, and the deal will support VMware in addressing the growing demand for software security as well as expand VMware’s End-User Computing group.
Expected to complete in the end of first quarter of 2014, the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Following the move, the AirWatch team including its founder and chief executive officer John Marshall will work under VMware’s End-User Computing group, which is headed by EVP and GM Sanjay Poonen.
Sanjay Poonen said the company’s vision is to provide a secure virtual workspace that allows end users to work at the speed of life.
"The combination of AirWatch and VMware will enable us to deliver unprecedented value to our customers and partners across their desktop and mobile environments," Poonen added.
AirWatch enterprise mobile security applications are expected to support VMware’s current portfolio.
VMware chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger said AirWatch provides secure enterprise-mobile management to thousands of businesses around the world.
"With this acquisition VMware will add a foundational element to our end-user computing portfolio that will enable our customers to turbo-charge their mobile workforce without compromising security," Gelsinger added.
AirWatch co-founder and chairman Alan Dabbiere said, "By joining a proven innovator like VMware, we now have an opportunity to bring our leading-edge solutions to an even broader set of customers and partners to help them optimize for the mobile-cloud world."
With the acquisition, the AirWatch’s headquarter in Atlanta is expected to expand and used a the centre for VMware’s mobile operations.
AirWatch provides enterprise applications for Mobile Device Management, Mobile Application Management and Mobile Content Management.
