Ruckus switches from Broadcom to Arris

A relatively minor act in the current TMT M&A frenzy sees fixed-line player Arris add Ruckus Wireless in a bid to diversify both its offering and routes to market.

Arris bid for Ruckus back in February when Broadcom revealed that it was a superfluous part of its Brocade acquisition. So the deal has taken around 9 months to push through, which is relatively quick by today’s standards.

The rationale is a familiar one in these convergent times. Telcos and other enterprise customers are increasingly diversifying their connectivity options to anyone looking to flog them stuff needs to do so too. Arris is now able to sex-up its cable offerings with some wifi and LAN switching action. What’s not to like?

To accommodate the strategic shift this acquisition entails Arris is creating a new enterprise networks business segment that will be led by the former COO of Ruckus Dan Rabinovitsj.

“This combination underscores our shared vision of achieving market leadership across wireless and wired networks in close partnership with our valued customers and channel partners,” he said.

“We’re very excited about the collaboration opportunities across our product portfolios to enable connectivity from the office to the home and to all the places in between. Joining Arris means we still do what Ruckus does best, but on a larger, global scale. I’m excited to lead the Ruckus Networks team into our next stage of growth and innovation.”

“I’m proud to welcome the 1,700 talented Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch Business employees into the Arris family,” said Bruce McClelland, Arris CEO. “It’s an important milestone, not only for Arris but for our industries. Ruckus’ unmatched expertise in wireless and wired networking perfectly complements our growth strategy of driving towards a constantly connected, mobile future.

“The acquisition brings diversification to our portfolio, building on our strength in networking and helping us to serve new verticals. Ultimately, our combined portfolios and scale will help our customers and partners deliver a smart, simple connected world for billions of people.”

You can hear more from the dynamic duo, as well as some atmospheric music that seems to have been taken from a 1980s action movie, below and read some analysis of how the deal is likely to play out by Light Reading here.