Netgear Buys Infrant for $60 Million

Networking purveyor Netgear looks to boost its business storage offerings by acquiring enterprise storage company Infrant for $60 million in cash.

Networking purveyor Netgear has announced an agreement to acquire business storage provider Infrant for $60 million in cash. Infrant was a privately-held company; Netgear’s main interest in the company is its ReadyNAS network storage appliances, which offer RAID arrays and data protections designed for use in small business with significant storage needs.

“This acquisition fits Netgear’s strategy of expanding its product portfolio, strengthening its global brand presence and adding on proven management talent to further grow our business,” said Netgear Chairman and CEO Patrick Lo, in a statement.

Netgear will undoubtedly look to expand the ReadyNAS technology into its own digital entertainment products: as consumers increasingly tap into digital video and other media offerings—and want to have that media available to them on-demand at any time—their in-home storage needs are expanding. And Netgear wants to be there with a turnkey solution.

However, Netgear will likely also use the acquisition to expand the Netgear brand to products offered to the small and medium-sized business market.

The deal is expected to close during the second quarter of 2007, with Infrant CEO Paul Tien becoming Netgear vice president and general manager for storage products. Infrant’s 34 employees will also transition to Netgear.