3Com announced last Friday that it had agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Bain Capital and vendor Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies for about $2.2 billion. The deal is being led by Bain, with Huawei as a minority partner.
Follow up reports on the deal have noted that the sale price of 3Com was actually fairly close to the current value of H3C, the former joint venture between 3Com and Huawei that 3Com bought its partner out of last year. The price of last week's acquisition would suggest the rest of 3Com was bought at a bargain price. Meanwhile, analysts observing the deal say it provides relief for a consistently under-performing company.
For more:
- Light Reading analyzes the H3C angle
- Telephony also follows the story