John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco, commented: _Cisco and Tandberg have remarkably similar cultures and a shared vision to change the way the world works through collaboration and video communications technologies. Collaboration is a $34 billion market and is growing rapidly _ enabled by networked Web 2.0 technologies._
In a video conversation between with Tandberg CEO Frederik Halvorsen, Chambers stated that the two companies were _almost completely complementary_ in the mid-range and all that way down to the desktop_, such that the two companies _almost sell each other_s products without realising it._
Halvorsen (pictured) stated that the companies shared the vision of _changing the way people communicated and collaborate_, and added: _Together, the innovative power of these two organisations will truly disrupt the collaboration market._
Jan Opsahl, chairman of Tandberg, told a press conference that it had taken Tandberg 20 years to reach a revenue of almost US$1bn. To reach the $10bn level would have taken 12-15 years on its own, but this could be done in five years with the right partner.
Chambers declared that the acquisition would mark a tipping point: _I think it will cause the market to accelerate, and both of our businesses to accelerate, over the next three to five years at a faster and faster pace. It_s about the number of nodes _ like a telephone network _ that you have that do video communications, that makes it powerful._
Cisco is offering to purchase all outstanding Tandberg shares for 153.5 NoK (approximately _18) per share for an aggregate price of approximately _2 billion. This is roughly 11.0% more than the previous closing price of Tandberg stock. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2010.
Cisco says it will position Tandberg_s Norway operations as a European centre of video excellence alongside its service provider video team in Diegem, Belgium. Halvorsen will lead a new TelePresence Technology Group, reporting to Marthin DeBeer, senior vice president of Cisco_s Emerging Technologies Group.
