Belkin to acquire Cisco’s Home Networking business unit

Belkin, a private company based in California, with operations and sales in more than 100 countries, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Cisco’s Home Networking business unit, including its products, technology, well-known Linksys brand and employees. With global operations, Linksys’ main office is also located in California.

Belkin intends to maintain the Linksys brand and will offer support for Linksys products as part of this transaction. All valid warranties will be honoured by Belkin for current and future Linksys products. After the transaction closes, Belkin will account for approximately 30 per cent of the US retail home and small business networking market.

Belkin and Cisco intend to develop a strategic relationship on a variety of initiatives including retail distribution, strategic marketing and products for the service provider market. Having access to Cisco’s specialised software solutions across all of Belkin’s product lines will bring a more seamless user experience for customers. Merging the innovation capabilities of Linksys and Belkin provides a powerful platform from which to develop the next generation of home networking technology.

Specific financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed. The transaction is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to close in March 2013.