Cisco splashes $700m on UK firm Acano

Deal set to boost Cisco's growing presence in the collaboration market

Cisco has bought UK conferencing firm Acano for $700m (£461.51m) to boost its presence in the collaboration market.

Founded in 2012, privately owned Acano helps customers connect video systems through different vendors and cloud environments by delivering hardware, software and audio technology.

"This acquisition will accelerate Cisco's collaboration strategy to deliver video everywhere, providing the best collaboration experience across every endpoint, every screen, every workspace, and to every user," a company statement said.

The US networking giant also talked up its existing collaboration business, claiming it grew at 17 per cent year-over-year in Q1 2016.

Cisco said it was particularly attracted to Acano's interoperability - the way its technology works across different vendors and platforms - and its scalability, as it can "connect tens of thousands of users and meeting rooms without compromising on the audio and video experience".

Rob Salvagno, vice president of Cisco corporate development, said the two companies will combine to provide extensive collaboration worldwide.

"People, companies and organisations are more geographically dispersed than ever before, and collaboration is essential to helping teams increase productivity and drive growth," he said. "Acano's innovations make it easier for customers to collaborate when, where and how they want. Together, we will help our customers to extend collaboration to every room, every screen and every user."

Following the deal, set to be completed in Q3 2016, the Acano team will join with the Cisco Collaboration Technology Group.

This is not the first UK firm Cisco has snapped up in recent years, with it buying video software specialist NDS Group in 2012, mobile firm Ubiquisys in 2013 and security consultancy Portcullis last month.