Broadcom Plans to Sell Brocade's Ruckus Wireless, ICX Switch Business to Arris

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting mergers in January.**

Following the close of its $5.9 billion acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems, Broadcom will sell the company’s Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business to Arris for $800 million, plus the additional cost of unvested employee stock awards.

Arris, an entertainment and communications technology provider, said this portfolio will expand its leadership in converged wired and wireless networking technologies beyond the home into the education, public-venue, enterprise, hospitality and MDU segments. It plans to establish a dedicated business unit within the company focused on wireless networking and wired switching technology to address “evolving and emerging needs across a number of vertical markets.”

The business unit will be led by current Ruckus COO Dan Rabinovitsj. He tells Channel Partners that with complementary strengths in technologies and vertical industries such as retail, cable and telco, combined with Ruckus’ strengths in hospitality, education and stadiums/large venues, partners will benefit from an expanded portfolio and set of use cases to grow their opportunities.

“Arris partners will gain access to Ruckus’ simply better Wi-Fi and the pioneer in network fabrics, the ICX Switch family, which as a network edge portfolio deliver(s) the highest performing and most cost-effective wired and wireless access solutions on the market today,” he said. “Ruckus’ partners can be confident that they are getting a new home in Arris that will bring the commitment, scale, stability and added resources to continue Ruckus’ market and innovation leadership.”{ad}

The deal is expected to close about one month following the closing of Broadcom’s acquisition of Brocade, which is anticipated during its third fiscal quarter.

“We have a history of partnering with Ruckus and the talented employees that created this powerful brand and platform,” said Bruce McClelland, Arris’ CEO. “We are excited to welcome about 1,600 new employees and an extensive network of enterprise channel partners to the Arris family.”

Brocade already has rolled out an integrated channel program across its network edge business for Ruckus wireless and wired, Rabinovitsj said. Once the Arris acquisition is complete, Arris plans to operate Ruckus as a separate business unit within Arris with a dedicated channel organization continuing to support partners with programs, enablement and co-marketing support, he said.

“We are pleased to announce this transaction with Arris, which will allow us to focus our energy on quickly integrating Brocade’s Fibre Channel SAN business once we close the Brocade acquisition,” said Hock Tan, Broadcom’s CEO.

The introduction of Ruckus as a dedicated business within the Arris family will “allow us to provide a new wave of innovation to answer evolving and emerging wireless and wired needs,” Rabinovitsj said.

“Through diversifying our channel and customer base with a stronger mid-tier and Small-Medium-Business (SMB) focus, we will have the opportunity to enlarge our product portfolio, market footprint and address a number of evolving enterprise, wireless and wired needs across new industry and business verticals,” he said.