Cisco today said it is buying privately held Pure Networks, maker of Network Magic.

Cisco's Linksys division currently partners with Pure for the Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA) network management tool. Cisco said the acquisition will enable further development of the existing LELA platform,"which will serve as the base for new multimedia-enabled applications, tools and capabilities".

Cisco will pay approximately $120 million in exchange for all shares of Pure Networks, with the deal expected to close in Cisco's first quarter of fiscal year 2009. Pure Networks' employees will remain in Seattle and be integrated into Linksys, led by Mike Pocock, Linksys senior vice president and general manager.

As for the fate of Pure's popular Network Magic, the official response is: "Cisco will continue to sell Network Magic through existing online and retail channels, for the time being. As always, we will continually re-evaluate this decision going forward."

Tags: Linksys, Pure Networks,

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