Juniper somersaults into WLAN market with Trapeze buy

Networking vendor acquires Trapeze Networks for $152m

Swing time: Juniper has bought Trapeze for $152m

Juniper Networks has finally matched long-running rumours about its wireless LAN ambitions by snapping up Trapeze Networks.

The networking titan today entered into a definitive agreement to buy Trapeze from parent Belden for about $152m in cash, in line with market rumours earlier this Autumn.

This would represent a $19m premium on the £133m cabling specialist Belden paid for Trapeze two years ago.

Juniper had also been periodically linked with Trapeze rivals Aruba Networks and Meru Networks.

Laying out the rationale for the deal, Juniper said the explosion of mobile devices would fuel a heightened need for flexible connectivity. According to figures from Dell ‘Oro Group, the wireless LAN market will grow from $2.2bn to $3.4bn between 2010 and 2014.

David Yen, Juniper's executive vice president of fabric and switching, said: "With the acquisition of Trapeze Networks, we extend our industry leading routing, security and switching portfolio with proven and innovative WLAN technology that will enable our customers to provide a seamless, high-quality, secure experience to their users regardless of where and how they access their network."

Belden chief executive John Stroup, said: "As the leader in high-performance networking, Juniper represents the ideal provider for us to unlock the value of Trapeze Networks in the global enterprise market."

The acquisition is set to close in the fourth quarter, Juniper said.