Cisco To Acquire Hyper-Converged Technology Partner Springpath For $320 Million

Cisco is acquiring hyper-converged software developer Springpath for $320 million, the companies announced Monday, saying the deal will strengthen Cisco's position in the highly competitive hyperconverged system market.

San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco and Springpath have been working together since early 2016 when the companies launched HyperFlex, a hyper-converged infrastructure system that competes with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's hyper-converged infrastructure system, HPE SimpliVity. HPE closed its $650 million acquisition of hyper-converged storage provider SimpliVity in February.

"This acquisition is a meaningful addition to our data center portfolio and aligns with our overall transition to providing more software-centric solutions," said Rob Salvagno, Cisco vice president, of corporate business development in a statement. "I'm excited to be able to provide our customers and partners with the simplicity and agility they need in data center innovation."

[Related: Sources: Cisco Close To Making Bid To Buy Springpath]

Cisco expects to complete the acquisition by the end of its fiscal 2018 first quarter in October, subject to closing conditions and regulatory reviews. Cisco will pay $320 million in cash and assumed equity awards, plus additional retention-based incentives.

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Cisco already owned an undisclosed stake in Springpath and the vendor was rumored to be on the brink of acquiring Springpath as long ago as August of last year. Cisco also previously attempted to scoop up hyper-converged leaders Nutanix and SimpliVity -- the latter before it was bought by HPE -- but both deals ultimately fell through.

Springpath's distributed file system for hyper-convergence powers server-based storage systems. The software-defined technology is known as the Springpath HX Data Platform, which runs on Cisco UCS servers to create the HyperFlex system.

Cisco said the acquisition will accelerate the growth of its software-defined infrastructure strategy and drive more next-generation data center innovation.