NetScreen Technologies has announced an agreement to acquire Neoteris, a leader in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) virtual private network technology.
The acquisition will cost NetScreen $US245 million in stock and $20 million in cash, according to the two companies.
The deal was expected to close by the end of the year, officials said.
Neoteris has more than 550 enterprise customers, according to company officials.
Competing against more than 25 vendors of SSL VPN technology, Neoteris garnered a 36 per cent market share of the growing technology sector in the first half of 2003. This made it the top vendor, according to research by Frost & Sullivan. Gartner lists Neoteris as a leader in the market, but market share data was unavailable.
SSL VPNs are a growing market segment, according to various analysts.
Infonetics Research said it expected the fairly new market to exceed $600 million in sales by 2006.
In another development, F5 Networks in Seattle has announced its new FirePass Controller, an SSL VPN that the company is marketing as a result of its acquisition of uRoam in July. This is Version 4.0 of FirePass Controller, but the first under F5 ownership. Pricing will start at AUD$16,000 on a concurrent user basis.
