Cisco Systems' acquisition of Duo Security edges shares higher as company expands into software

Cisco Systems Inc’s (NASDAQ: CSCO) acquisition of Duo Security, a cloud-based security system, edged shares higher today as the company strengthened its software offerings.  The technology giant will pay US$2.35bn in cash and stocks to purchase the startup cyber security company.

California-based Cisco confirmed in a statement that the deal would close by the end of its fiscal year 2019.

Shares in Cisco added 0.6% to US$42.79 in midday trade.

READ: Cisco shares fall despite surpassing Wall Street earnings estimates, dragging down the Dow

Duo Security, a privately held company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was last valued at US$1.17bn. It provides cloud-based tools to prevent security breaches on devices using two types of authorization.

The acquisition, spearheaded by Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, signals the latest move by the computer hardware company to go deeper into software.

Cisco Security saw US$2bn in annual revenue for the first time in the 2017 fiscal year which accounted for US$2.15bn in sales out of Cisco’s total of US$48bn. 

The tech firm continues to get most its revenue from hardware like switches and routers.

–Written by Belinda Robinson for Proactive Investors

Story by ProactiveInvestors