Aruba Networks filled an important gap in its Wi-Fi portfolio with the announcement that it will pony up more than $40 million in stock and cash to acquire Milpitas, Calif.-based Azalea.
Azalea makes so-called mesh networks that allow data to be wirelessly transferred between fixed outdoor locations such as oil fields and refineries.
According to Enterprise Networking Planet, Azalea’s technologies will be integrated into the Aruba product portfolio.
With Azalea’s mesh technology, Aruba is filing a hole its portfolio by adding capabilities for large-scale outdoor wireless network deployments: The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games used the company’s technology to deliver a 600-node Wi-Fi mesh network over a 19-square-mile area.
Enterprise Wi-Fi vendor Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) is expanding its footprint, acquiring Azalea Networks and its wireless mesh technology that could enable Aruba to offer large-scale Wi-Fi networks to sprawling business campuses and elsewhere.
Aruba will pay $27 million in stock and up to $13.5 million in cash adjustments over the next two years for the privately held Azalea. Aruba expects the deal to close in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, ending in November.