Cisco beefs up cybersecurity play with $28 bln Splunk deal

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary Sept 21 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) has agreed to buy cybersecurity firm Splunk (SPLK.O) for about $28 billion in its biggest-ever deal to beef up its software business and capitalize on the rising use of artificial intelligence, the companies said on Thursday.

The deal will help reduce Cisco's reliance on its massive networking equipment business, which has suffered in recent years from supply chain issues and a post-pandemic slowdown in demand.

Splunk shares jumped 23% to trade $9 short of the offer price before the opening bell, while Cisco dropped nearly 5%.

Cisco already has a data-security partnership with Splunk, whose more than 15,000 customers include many prominent companies such as Coca-Cola (KO.N), Intel (INTC.O) and Porsche.

After a surge in revenue growth last year to nearly 40%, Splunk has grappled with an industry-wide slowdown in demand in 2023 wrought by rising interest rates and sticky inflation.

Its acquisition will accelerate revenue growth and gross margin expansion at hardware-reliant Cisco in the first fiscal year after the deal's close, according to the companies.

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4 comments

Makes sense Splunk was already one of the most expensive products in this space.
Wonder how long it will take for them to rune it.
- Wonder how long it will take for them to rune it.
  Maybe they can bring back Source Mage Linux, and package it as an appliance. Implement runes as query aliases.
I read this as Costco and was very confused at first.
🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary Sept 21 (Reuters) - Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) has agreed to buy cybersecurity firm Splunk (SPLK.O) for about $28 billion in its biggest-ever deal to beef up its software business and capitalize on the rising use of artificial intelligence, the companies said on Thursday.
The deal will help reduce Cisco's reliance on its massive networking equipment business, which has suffered in recent years from supply chain issues and a post-pandemic slowdown in demand.
Splunk shares jumped 23% to trade $9 short of the offer price before the opening bell, while Cisco dropped nearly 5%.
Cisco already has a data-security partnership with Splunk, whose more than 15,000 customers include many prominent companies such as Coca-Cola (KO.N), Intel (INTC.O) and Porsche.
After a surge in revenue growth last year to nearly 40%, Splunk has grappled with an industry-wide slowdown in demand in 2023 wrought by rising interest rates and sticky inflation.
Its acquisition will accelerate revenue growth and gross margin expansion at hardware-reliant Cisco in the first fiscal year after the deal's close, according to the companies.
Saved 55% of original text. :::