for $157 per share in a cash deal worth about $28 billion, the company said Thursday, in its largest acquisition ever."From threat detection and response to threat prediction and prevention, we will help make organizations of all sizes more secure and resilient," Cisco chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said in a statement. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, continues a months-long buying spree to build out Cisco's cybersecurity offerings.
"Together, we will become one of the largest software companies globally," Robbins said in a conference call with analysts. Robbins and Splunk CEO Gary Steele pushed back on those concerns. "We still have many large customers who are very dependent upon the capabilities that we allow for in a customer managed environment," Steele told analysts.
Splunk CEO Steele had been with the company for a little more than a year. Prior to Splunk, Steele was CEO at Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm. Proofpoint was acquired by Thoma Bravo in a $Steele will join Cisco's executive leadership team after the deal close, Cisco said.