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Emerson to Acquire Avocent Corp To Broaden Data Center Management Capabilities

October 07, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

Emerson and Avocent Corp. announced they have reached agreement for Emerson to acquire Avocent, a transaction that Emerson says will further ability to deliver total infrastructure management solutions to its data center customers around the world. The Avocent Board of Directors unanimously endorsed the terms of an all-cash tender offer of $25 per share, or approximately $1.2 billion. The purchase is expected to close around January 1, 2010, pending customary regulatory approvals and acceptance of the offer by Avocent stockholders holding a majority of Avocent shares.

Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, Avocent recorded sales in 2008 of $657 million. With global manufacturing, research and development and sales operations, nearly 50% of Avocent’s 2008 revenues came from outside the United States.

The agreement extends the integrated solutions Emerson provides to data center managers and creates significant opportunities for growth. Avocent blends hardware, software and embedded technologies in a unified platform that simplifies monitoring, managing and problem solving in any size data center.

Avocent’s IT infrastructure management technology is recognized as a leader in managing IT device operating and performance information. These configuration and monitoring technologies complement Emerson Network Power’s power systems, energy management and precision cooling solutions. Emerson’s data center-related revenues were approximately $2.6 billion in fiscal 2008.

"Combining Avocent’s technologies, relationships and installed base with Emerson’s power and cooling presence allows us to offer a more compelling solution to our data center customers’ most pressing challenge – energy efficiency," said David N. Farr, Emerson Chairman, CEO and President. "It furthers our customers’ ability to better manage reliability, availability and lifecycle costs through a simple yet comprehensive view of the complete data center physical infrastructure."

Mike Borman, Avocent’s CEO, added, "Augmenting Avocent’s ability to access and control the physical aspects of network devices and servers with information and knowledge of the broader power and cooling infrastructure forms a powerful combination missing today from the toolset available to data center managers."