Aruba Networks, a provider for distributed enterprise network solutions, reached an agreement to purchase Azalea Networks, a supplier of outdoor mesh networks. The acquisition includes highly differentiated mesh products for critical outdoor industrial applications in the oil and gas, logistics, manufacturing, mining, petrochemical, public safety, smart grid, and transportation sectors. These products will enable Aruba to deliver secure mobility solutions that span from indoor carpeted spaces to the outdoor industrial enterprise. The acquisition includes an operations center in Beijing, staffed by engineers, which will complement Aruba’s existing R&D centers in Bangalore and Silicon Valley.
Aruba Networks, a provider for distributed enterprise network solutions, reached an agreement to purchase Azalea Networks, a supplier of outdoor mesh networks. The acquisition includes highly differentiated mesh products for critical outdoor industrial applications in the oil and gas, logistics, manufacturing, mining, petrochemical, public safety, smart grid, and transportation sectors. These products will enable Aruba to deliver secure mobility solutions that span from indoor carpeted spaces to the outdoor industrial enterprise. The acquisition includes an operations center in Beijing, staffed by engineers, which will complement Aruba's existing R&D centers in Bangalore and Silicon Valley.
"This acquisition brings our customers and prospects innovative new solutions for real-time outdoor applications like video surveillance," said Hitesh Sheth, Aruba COO. "Enterprises need a secure, reliable link between their assets and the people who use them, wherever they work or roam. "Outdoor networks need to cope with a wide range of environmental factors, and this challenge is compounded when video and voice need to be sent over long distances in real-time. Azalea has made outdoor mesh work in industrial enterprise applications that cut across a wide range of verticals."
Under the terms of the agreement, Aruba will acquire Azalea in exchange for total consideration of approximately US$27 million in stock subject to certain adjustments and up to $13.5 million in cash over two years. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of Aruba's 2011 fiscal year, subject to standard closing conditions, and to be neutral or accretive to results over the next twelve months. Azalea had 2009 revenues of approximately $5 million, and a total customer base of over 140 companies.
In a mesh network, data packets hop wirelessly from radio to radio. Azalea's mesh technology allows it to also carry latency-sensitive video and voice traffic, with full fidelity, over long distances. The value of this capability has been field-proven in demanding applications like the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in which 600 mesh nodes provided voice, video and Wi-Fi access more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers) of the city. To date Azalea has shipped more than 25,000 mesh nodes worldwide.
"Enterprises have primarily focused WLAN deployments on indoor spaces, but outdoor applications loom large," said Matthias Machowinski, Directing Analyst for Enterprise Voice and Data at Infonetics Research. "The economic recovery, the need for ubiquitous connectivity, and emerging applications like smart grid and video surveillance are going to accelerate outdoor wireless infrastructure deployments by enterprises in the coming years. Azalea's mesh technology will enable Aruba to provide an integrated, enterprise-wide wireless infrastructure that addresses both indoor and outdoor applications."
"Joining Aruba opens Azalea's unique mesh solutions to a broad new set of markets that are underserved by traditional mesh vendors," said Frank Wang, Azalea's co-founder and Co-CEO. "It also provides continuity to our existing customers, who are assured of uninterrupted support from Aruba's award-winning customer care. A tradition of innovation drives both Azalea and Aruba, and this is reflected in the highly differentiated, customer-focused products we build. All of us at Azalea are delighted to be part of Aruba."