Avaya Sells Networking Business to Extreme Networks

Avaya has confirmed that it will be selling its networking business to Extreme Networks for approximately $100 million. The deal was flagged in March but since Avaya was also courting some other offers at the time, it’s taken some time for Extreme to be confirmed as the buyer. Currently both companies have issued press statements confirming that the deal will be completed ahead of the July 1st closing date.

One of the primary reasons that Avaya’s selling the networking business is to help it restructure debts it has struggled to service. Avaya filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. At that time, the troubled vendor made a decision to not sell its call center business.

Commenting on the announcement, Avaya Networking SVP and GM Marc Randall said, “This is great news. The Avaya networking business will become part of a company exclusively focused on networking and addressing the needs of our networking customers. By combining Avaya Networking’s innovative products and solutions with Extreme’s industry leading portfolio, we will enable customers to compete in new ways with more advanced and competitive solutions.

“As we work through integration planning, it is business as usual. We will work closely with our customers, partners and stakeholders while continuing to meet their needs for secure, high-performance networking solutions,” Randall said. “Through deal close and beyond, we will deliver on our stated customer commitments and maintain high levels of service and support. We will ensure our customers can fully leverage their existing Avaya investment as they benefit from the complementary capabilities of the Avaya and the Extreme portfolio of products and services.”