Bain Capital Partners to buy 3Com

By Stuart Corner
Saturday, 29 September 2007 08:50

Deals

Global private investment firm, Bain Capital Partners, is to acquire 3Com Corporation for approximately $US2.2 billion in cash, with 3Com's former joint venture partner, Huawei, taking an unspecified minority stake to become a strategic partner.

3Com president and CEO, Edgar Masri, said "The 3Com board of directors and senior management team have thoroughly reviewed our strategic alternatives and have determined that the agreement with Bain Capital provides the best value for 3Com shareholders. We believe that this agreement better positions 3Com to establish itself as a global networking leader, which will benefit our employees, our customers and our partners."

Bain Capital managing director, Jonathan Zhu, justified the deal by saying: "3Com has a strong competitive position, and we believe there are significant opportunities to grow by acquiring customers and introducing new products. We look forward to working with the management team and the company's strategic partners to seize the worldwide growth opportunity that exists for 3Com's communications networking solutions."

News of the deal was leaked by the Wall Street Journal and immediately sparked a 25 percent hike in 3Com shares. However the price represents only a modest premium on the valuation earlier this year of H3C, the former joint venture between Huawei and 3Com for which 3Com paid $US882 million to buy out Huawei's 49 percent share.