WAN traffic management vendor to roll protocol acceleration technology into its portfolio.
Packeteer Wednesday announced it acquired Mentat, a provider of protocol acceleration technologies, for about $16.5 million.
Packeteer, which provides customers with WAN application traffic management appliances and software, will roll Mentat, a Los Angeles provider of network appliances to speed traffic on high-latency network links and optimize protocols such as TCP and UDP.
Packeteer says Mentat technology will enhance its product line by incorporating technology for accelerated applications over satellite and long-haul networks. According to Packeteer, Mentat’s SkyX product line helps service providers and enterprise IT managers overcome the limitations of TCP/IP to enable “high-performance network access.”
“This acquisition … provides significant technology for additional acceleration capabilities that make us more strategic to enterprise networks,” said Dave Côté, president and CEO of Packeteer, in a press release. “Mentat’s technology provides a foundation for increasing returns as we consolidate more capabilities into one appliance.”
Packeteer competes with the likes of Expand Networks and Peribit in the WAN application acceleration market. The company’s PacketShaper appliances enable IT managers to view and speed traffic over WANs. Packeteer says it expects the acquisition will add between $6 million to $7 million to total net revenue in 2005.
Packeteer will pay approximately $16.5 million in cash to acquire all outstanding shares of Mentat. In addition, Packeteer will pay approximately $3.5 million in retention bonuses to Mentat employees in both cash and restricted stock, with the majority being paid over the next two years.
Mentat will become a Packeteer business unit, reporting to Mike Schumacher, vice president of engineering for Packeteer.
Packeteer says Mentat software will be available on Packeteer’s box in the first half of 2005. By the third quarter, Packeteer says Mentat software will be fully integrated with Packeteer’s software.
