By Alex Scroxton
11 August 2008
Hewlett-Packard’s networking arm, HP ProCurve, has broken a four-year acquisition drought after forking out an undisclosed sum for intelligent wireless network provider Colubris.
The acquisition – ProCurve’s first since Ethernet switch specialist Riverstone in 2004 – will add Colubris’ WLAN product suite to ProCurve’s fast-strengthening platform.
ProCurve claimed the deal would give it particular strength in hospitality, transport and healthcare.
“The acquisition … will significantly improve the overall performance capabilities of both wired and wireless networks, and will deliver even more best-in-class choices for our customers worldwide,” said ProCurve senior vice-president and general manager, Marius Haas.
EuroLAN managing consultant Keith Humphreys believed ProCurve would benefit from strengthening its WLAN offering.
He suggested the deal could indicate a tactical shift under the leadership of Marius Haas, who replaced John McHugh earlier this year.
“McHugh was quite anti-acquisition, so this could be a change of direction,” he said.
Colubris was founded in 2000 and has built up a reputation for innovation in the networking space. It was among the first vendors to implement, among other things, optimised WLAN switching architectures and a plug-and-play wireless ‘hotspot-in-a-box’.
The deal is scheduled to close by the end of HP’s fiscal 2008.
For further details of the acquisition, including interviews with both parties, see the MicroScope website tomorrow.
