Having just signed a deal to acquire UK video and audio developer Nemesys Research Ltd (CI No 3,060), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- based Fore Systems Inc has been buying again. This time the target is US Ethernet-to-Asynchronous Transfer Mode server software specialist, Scalable Networks Inc. Fore has paid 900,000 shares plus a substitution of approximately 46,000 Fore Systems shares for Scalable Networks stock. Fore said the acquisition would enable it to integrate Scalable’s high-performance switched Fast Ethernet desktop and Gigabit Ethernet server access technology into its Asynchronous Transfer Mode backbone products, specifically, into its PowerHub and ES-3810 local area network access products which, says the company, will offer users low- cost entry switches that can be extended on a linear cost per port basis to thousands of ports. The ES-3810 is designed as a high-performance, cost-effective option for connecting large numbers of switched Ethernet desktops with transfer mode uplinks. The PowerHub family integrates Ethernet, switched Ethernet, and FDDI with Asynchronous Transfer Mode networks, and provides routing and local area network emulation services. Fore also plans to have Scalable’s technology incorporate ForeThought, its suite of software components to enable users to migrate networks to transfer mode. The acquisition will be a pooling of interests for accounting purposes.
