Cisco Boosts Collaboration Portfolio with BroadSoft Acquisition for $1.9 billion

Cisco and BroadSoft have signed agreement for Cisco to acquire publicly-held BroadSoft for approximately $1.9 billion net of cash.

The acquisition of BroadSoft reinforces Cisco's commitment to Unified Communications and enhances its ability to address the millions of aging TDM lines poised to transition to IP technology and cloud native solutions over the coming years.

Rob Salvagno, Head of Cisco’s M&A and venture investment team, wrote in a blog post, "We chose BroadSoft as it provides a portfolio of cloud collaboration platforms and business applications, which strengthen our cloud investments and ability to deliver collaboration solutions to our global telecom provider customers. Following the close of the acquisition, Cisco and BroadSoft will provide a comprehensive SaaS portfolio of cloud based unified communications, collaboration, and contact center software solutions and services for customers of all sizes."

Cisco and BroadSoft will continue to operate as separate companies. Upon completion of the transaction, BroadSoft employees will join Cisco's Unified Communications Technology Group led by Vice President and General Manager Tom Puorro, under the Applications Group led by Trollope. 

The acquisition is expected to be completed in Cisco’s first quarter of calendar year 2018.

Michael Tessler, President and CEO, Broadsoft 
As businesses continue to move toward the cloud in search of simplicity and speed, joining Cisco will allow us to deliver best-in-class collaboration tools and services.