PALO ALTO, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif., July 27, 2007 - VMware, Inc. today announced that Cisco Systems will acquire an equity stake in the company.
Cisco will purchase $150 million of VMware Class A common shares currently held by EMC Corporation, VMware's parent company, subject to customary regulatory and other closing conditions including Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) review. Upon closing of the investment, Cisco will own approximately 1.6 percent of VMware's total outstanding common stock (less than one percent of the combined voting power of VMware's outstanding common stock). VMware has agreed to consider the appointment of a Cisco executive to VMware's board of directors at a future date.
Cisco's purchase is intended to strengthen inter-company collaboration towards accelerating customer adoption of VMware virtualization products with Cisco networking infrastructure and the development of customer solutions that address the intersection of virtualization and networking technologies.
In addition, VMware and Cisco have entered into a routine and customary collaboration agreement that expresses their intent to expand cooperative efforts around joint development, marketing, customer and industry initiatives. Through improved coordination and integration of networking and virtualized infrastructure, the companies intend to foster solutions for enhanced datacenter optimization and extend the benefits of virtualization beyond the datacenter to remote offices and end-user desktops.
About VMware, Inc.
VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. Organizations of all sizes use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit www.VMware.com.