Cisco Systems Acquires Semiconductor Firm

Cisco Systems Inc. Tuesday acquired semiconductor firm StratumOne Communications Inc. in a stock transaction valued at approximately $435 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, between 6.31 and 7.72 million shares of Cisco common stock will be exchanged for all outstanding shares and options of StratumOne.

Cisco said the acquisition will equip service providers with “high-end platforms to accelerate deployment of advanced services that integrate data, voice and video.”

The acquisition builds on an existing relationship between the two companies that included a minority investment by Cisco in StratumOne in January.

Tuesday’s acquisition is the latest in a string of buyouts that fuels Cisco’s strategy of providing comprehensive network infrastructure and software for Internet service providers worldwide. Last week, Cisco purchased software firm GeoTel Communications. Other recent acquisitions include networking firms Fibex Systems and Sentient Networks.