Aruba Networks to Acquire Airwave Wireless

(Business News & Technology News, 11 Jan 2008)

Aruba Networks Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase AirWave Wireless Inc., a California-based company providing specialized tools to centrally manage large, multi-vendor wireless LAN, mesh, and WiMAX networks. AirWave's management software is used by hundreds of IT organizations, including many Fortune 500 companies spanning education, finance, government, healthcare, hospitality, technology, manufacturing, and retail markets. The acquisition will provide Aruba with best-in-class multi-vendor mobility management tools, as well as a vehicle for better supporting its expanding technology partner eco-system. AirWave will operate as a business unit of Aruba, chartered to enhance the AirWave Wireless Management Suite software and maintain its position as one of the industry's leading multi-vendor management solutions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Aruba will acquire AirWave in exchange for total consideration of $37 million in stock and cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of Aruba's 2008 fiscal year and is subject to standard closing conditions.

"Customers have a vision of how they want to architect and deploy their networks, and those networks often include multiple vendors," said Dominic Orr, Aruba's President and CEO. "We believe it is important to respect customers' choices in these matters, and this acquisition positions us as the first mobility vendor to move beyond simple interoperability and offer cross-vendor network management, too. Whether a customer wants to preserve some existing assets, or stage a phased roll-out of new technologies like 802.11n, the management of multi-vendor legacy and new devices is imperative. We are fully committed to continuing support for all of AirWave's products, and we intend to expand the roster of supported third-party products based on market share and customer demand."

Legacy and new networking equipment often need to run side-by-side, in some cases for several years, because of multi-year capital equipment purchasing cycles and the introduction of new networking technology like 802.11n. The AirWave platform eases technology transitions by extending the life of existing capital investments and enabling multi-vendor solutions to be run from a common, centralized network management system. Most wireless vendors offer only proprietary management solutions geared towards their own products. AirWave's platform manages networks and products from Cisco, Aruba, HP ProCurve, Motorola/Symbol, Avaya, Foundry, Proxim, 3Com, Trapeze, and Tropos, among others, and additional coverage will be added under Aruba's ownership.

"We believe that the best way for us to serve AirWave's customers is by accelerating the pace of product development and innovation," said Greg Murphy, AirWave's COO. "This acquisition gives us a chance to do so as part of a larger company that is committed to open, interoperable solutions. With this acquisition, Aruba gains a vendor-neutral platform that provides a safe haven for users seeking intelligent management and upgrade capabilities without expensive forklift replacements."

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