It was announced today that Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) are to buy NDS to for a sum of around $5 billion. The electronics switch company announced the deal earlier today.The deal is said to include NDS and all of its subsidiaries. NDS has been important in the provision of media technologies in Asia and Cisco’s Asian ambition is clearly one motivation for this deal. The company manufactures software and hardware used in the delivery of media services such as cable boxes and smart cards. 25% of the Company’s 5000 strong work force are based in India, with the majority of the remaining staff based in the United Kingdom.
When the announcement was made it was revealed that the deal had been agreed to by the boards of both companies accelarating the acquisition. After regulatory review in the United States, Britain and the other cstates involved the deal is expected to be closed in the later part of this year, promising Cisco a quick entry into NDS’s business. The company hopes to transform NDS and make it part of Cisco’s Service Provider Video Technology Group. That group is active in a number of areas similar to NDS’s and is at the moment concentrated on Videoscape a new video platform Cisco hopes to see take off among providers.
The NDS Group is a video software and content security firm based in the United Kingdom. The company develops software for media devices like set top boxes for televisions. Cisco appears to be making this move on the assumption that it will expand their reach into emerging markets, particularly in East Asia. The company has a large operation in India which contributes 40% of its annual revenues. Cisco has been less of an active buyer of late than it had been in the past concentrating more on smaller companies and startups. This move shows them ambitious again and willing to take bigger risks on bigger buyout to increase reach and profitability.
