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WSJ: Cisco offered $20 billion for Splunk

Cisco Systems wants to buy the American software maker Splunk for about $20 billion. Two publications, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, reported on the negotiations between the two companies at once. Cisco proposed a deal some time ago, but the publications did not specify when exactly. Currently, there are no active negotiations between the company.

Splunk is a company that produces log collection software. It was founded in 2003 and currently has a market capitalization of about $18 billion. Its shares have fallen nearly 30% since the resignation of chief executive Doug Merritt in November 2021. A few months earlier, stock company Silver Lake had invested $1 billion in Splunk to help the organization move to the cloud.

If the transaction goes through, it will be the largest for Cisco. Until recently, the largest deal for the giant was the $7 billion purchase of cable and satellite TV equipment maker Scientific Atlanta. But that was 17 years ago, in 2005. And in recent times, the largest deal was the purchase of Acacia Communications for almost $5 billion in 2021.

Cisco currently has a market capitalization of $227 billion.

The New York Times sent a request to Splunk, but company representatives declined to comment on "rumors and speculation."

WSJ: Cisco offered $20 billion for Splunk