Cisco Extends Deadline For Tandberg Purchase

Cisco Systems once again has extended its deadline to buy video conferencing rival Tandberg, pushing it back by two days to 3 December.

In a brief statement 1 December, Cisco officials said that soon after the deadline passes, they will decide whether they have the necessary support of Tandberg investors holding at least 90 percent of the company’s shares.

Cisco in October announced plans to buy the Norwegian company for $3 billion. However, opposition from investors who held as much as 30 percent of Tandberg’s stock soon arose, with the shareholders arguing that the bid was too low and that they preferred to see the company stay independent unless a better offer from Cisco or another party was submitted.

On 17 November, Cisco upped its bid to almost $3.4 billion (£2bn), with officials saying it would be their final offer.

Tandberg’s board of directors already had approved the $3 billion offer.

Cisco already offers a host of video conferencing products, but most of those are aimed at the high end of the market. Bringing Tandberg into the fold would give Cisco greater traction in the SMB space, where Tandberg has a strong presence.

Cisco sees video as an important piece of the larger $34 billion collaboration space. Other companies also are making a play in the video conferencing space, as illustrated by Logitech’s announcement on 10 November that it is buying LifeSize Communications for $405 million, putting it into competition with Cisco, Hewlett-Packard and Polycom.