Cisco Announces Plans to Acquire Cloud-Based IoT Service Platform Provider Jasper Technologies

Equipment giant Cisco Systems this week announced its plans to acquire Jasper Technologies, which delivers a cloud-based IoT service platform for enterprises and service providers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay $1.4 billion in cash and assumed equity awards, plus additional retention-based incentives for Jasper employees who join Cisco. Both Cisco and Jasper are actively involved in the U.S. machine-to-machine connections market.

Cisco said the proposed acquisition will allow it to offer a complete IoT “solution that is interoperable across devices and works with IoT service providers, application developers and an ecosystem of partners.” Cisco will continue to build on Jasper’s IoT platform and add new IoT services such as enterprise Wi-Fi, security for connected devices, and advanced analytics to better manage device usage.

“Together, we can enable service providers, enterprises and the broader ecosystem to connect, automate, manage and analyze billions of connected things, across any network, creating new revenue streams and opportunities,” said Chuck Robbins, Cisco’s CEO.{ad}

Jasper’s SaaS platform manages and drives a range of connected devices and services for more than 3,500 enterprises globally, working with 27 service provider groups globally.

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.

“IoT has become a business imperative across the globe,” said Jahangir Mohammed, Jasper’s CEO. “Enterprises in every industry need integrated solutions that give them complete visibility and control over their connected services, while also being simple to implement, manage and scale.”