Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Cariden

Acquisition Further Strengthens Cisco’s Ability to Lead the Evolution in Service Provider Networking

SAN JOSE, CA–(Marketwire – Nov 29, 2012) – Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO, news, filings) today announced its intent to acquire privately held Cariden Technologies, Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based supplier of network planning, design and traffic management solutions for telecommunications service providers. With global service providers converging their Internet Protocol (IP) and optical networks to address exploding Internet and mobile traffic growth and complex traffic patterns, Cisco’s acquisition of Cariden will allow providers to enhance the visibility, programmability and efficiency of their converged networks, while improving service velocity.

Cariden’s industry-leading capacity planning and management tools for IP/MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) networks, which have been deployed by many of the world’s leading fixed and mobile network operators, will be integrated into Cisco’s Service Provider Networking Group to enable multilayer modeling and optimization of optical transport and IP/MPLS networks. Cariden’s products and technology will advance Cisco’s nLight technology for IP and optical convergence. The acquisition also supports the company’s Open Network Environment (ONE) strategy by providing sophisticated wide area networking (WAN) orchestration capabilities. These capabilities will allow service providers to improve both the programmability of their networks and the utilization of existing network assets across the IP and optical transport layers.

“The Cariden acquisition reinforces Cisco’s commitment to offering service providers the technologies they need to optimize and monetize their networks, and ultimately grow their businesses,” said Surya Panditi, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco’s Service Provider Networking Group. “Given the widespread convergence of IP and optical networks, Cariden’s technology will help carriers more efficiently manage bandwidth, network traffic and intelligence. This acquisition signals the next phase in Cisco’s packet and optical convergence strategy and further strengthens our ability to lead this market transition in networking.”

The acquisition of Cariden exemplifies Cisco’s build, buy, and partner innovation framework and is aligned to Cisco’s strategic goals to develop and deliver innovative networking technologies and provide best-in-class solutions for customers, all while attracting and cultivating top talent.

Upon the close of the acquisition, Cariden employees will be integrated into Cisco’s Service Provider Networking Group, reporting to Shailesh Shukla, vice president and general manager of the company’s Software and Applications Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $141 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Cariden. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of Cisco’s fiscal year 2013.

About Cisco
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Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found atwww.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the expected completion of the acquisition and the time frame in which this will occur, the expected benefits to Cisco and its customers from completing the acquisition, and plans regarding Cariden personnel. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results due to a variety of factors, including, among other things, the potential impact on the business of Cariden due to the uncertainty about the acquisition, the retention of employees of Cariden and the ability of Cisco to successfully integrate Cariden and to achieve expected benefits, business and economic conditions and growth trends in the networking industry, customer markets and various geographic regions, global economic conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment and other risk factors set forth in Cisco’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based on limited information currently available to Cisco, which is subject to change, and Cisco will not necessarily update the information.

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