Stock Market Watch

Sourcefire to be Acquired by Cisco (FIRE, CSCO)

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Shares of Sourcefire Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE), a provider of intelligent cybersecurity technologies, have skyrocketed in trading today after the Columbia, Maryland-based company agreed to be acquired by network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).

Cisco and Sourcefire entered into a definitive agreement under which Cisco will acquire Sourcefire for $76 per share in an all cash transaction. The transaction, which has already been approved by the Board of Directors of both companies, is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

Sourcefire, which has over 650 employees globally, reported revenue of $223.1 million for the full year ended December 31, 2012. The acquisition of Sourcefire will enable Cisco to accelerate to delivery of its security strategy of defending, discovering, and remediating advanced threats.

Commenting on the transaction, Hilton Romanski, Vice President of Cisco Corporate Development, said that Sourcefire aligns well with CSCO’s future vision for security and supports the key pillars of the company’s security strategy.

Martin Roesch, founder and Chief Technology Officer of Sourcefire, said that the company is excited about the opportunities ahead to expand its footprint through CSCO’s global reach as well as CSCO’s commitment to support Sourcefire’s pace of innovation in both commercial markets and the open source community.

At last check, Sourcefire shares were up 27.78% to $75.49 on above average volume of 9.07 million. The stock hit a 52-week high of $75.95 earlier today. Cisco shares, meanwhile, are down 0.19% to $25.67 in trading today.








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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