Cisco is acquiring publicly-held cloud unified communications company BroadSoft for approximately $1.9 billion. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company, said the networking giant in a statement.

By combining BroadSoft’s open interface and standards-based cloud voice and contact center solutions delivered via service provider partners, with Cisco’s meetings, hardware and services portfolio, the combined company will offer best-of-breed solutions for businesses, says Cisco.

Prior to the close, Cisco and BroadSoft will continue to operate as separate companies. Upon completion of the transaction, BroadSoft employees will join Cisco’s Unified Communications Technology Group, led by vice president and general manager Tom Puorro, under the Applications Group led by Rowan Trollope, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Applications Business Group.

The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of calendar year 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review.

You can find a blog post on the acquisition by Rob Salvagno, head of Cisco’s M&A and venture investment team, here.

[Image courtesy: Cisco]