Cisco and Splunk have agreed on the former’s acquisition of the latter for US$28 billion or US$157 per share in cash, in a transaction that has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
Upon close of the acquisition, which is expected in the third quarter of 2024 — subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions including approval by Splunk shareholders — Splunk president and CEO Gary Steele will join Cisco’s Executive Leadership Team reporting to chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins.
The acquisition builds on Splunk’s heritage of helping organisations enhance their digital resilience and will accelerate Cisco’s strategy to securely connect everything to make anything possible.
Robbins said the combined firms will help make organisations of all sizes more secure and resilient, from threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention.
“Uniting with Cisco represents the next phase of Splunk’s growth journey, accelerating our mission to help organisations worldwide become more resilient, while delivering immediate and compelling value to our shareholders,” said Steele.
“Together, we will form a global security and observability leader that harnesses the power of data and AI to deliver excellent customer outcomes and transform the industry,” he added.
Splunk’s security capabilities complement Cisco’s existing portfolio, and together, will provide leading security analytics and coverage from devices to applications to clouds.
Cisco and Splunk’s complementary capabilities are expected to provide observability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments enabling the company’s customers to deliver smooth application experiences that power their digital businesses.
The merger is also expected to allow for greater investments in new solutions, accelerated innovation, and increased global scale to support the needs of customers of all sizes.
