Cisco Systems Inc. announced on Thursday that it will acquire security and observability vendor Splunk in a deal valued at about US$28 billion. The acquisition, approved by both companies’ boards, is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of calendar year 2024, subject to regulatory approval and that of Splunk’s shareholders.
“Cisco and Splunk’s complementary capabilities will provide observability across hybrid and multi-cloud environments enabling the company’s customers to deliver smooth application experiences that power their digital businesses,” Cisco said in a release.
Mauricio Sanchez, Dell’Oro Group senior director, enterprise security and networking research, said of the sale that “we see this as a positive development for Cisco, particularly for its security business, where a significant amount of Splunk’s value proposition lies. However, as with many things in life, it’s a glass half full, half empty.”
