Cisco buys venture-backed Ubiquisys for $310m

Greg Gille
03 April 2013

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Small cells developer Ubiquisys, a portfolio company of Advent Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Atlas Venture, has been bought by US corporate Cisco for $310m.

Cisco will pay approximately $310m in cash and retention-based incentives to acquire the entire business and operations of Ubiquisys. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco's 2013 fiscal year, subject to closing conditions.

Ubiquisys has raised more than $80m across five funding rounds since 2006. Advent, one of the company's original backers, was the largest shareholder prior to the sale to Cisco. The firm told unquote" it had expected to sell Ubiquisys to a large trade player given the strategic nature of the company's technology in the important small cell market.

Return figures for Ubiquisys's venture backers remain undisclosed. This is, however, the seventh profitable exit from Advent's tech portfolio since mid-2011; these have yielded a 4x money multiple on average for the GP, following an average holding period of four years.

Advent was advised by tech-focused investment bank Pacific Crest Securities on the sale.

Previous funding
In September 2006, Accel, Advent and Atlas committed $12m of early-stage funding to Ubiquisys. In July 2007, the trio was joined by Google in a $25m series-B funding round for the firm. 2008 saw T-Mobile Ventures join the company's backers, with all existing investors then contributing to an $11m round in 2009.

In July 2010, Advent, Accel and Atlas were joined by Continents Consulting Group and Yasuda in a $9m capital injection, with Asian investors SerComm Corporation, UMC Capital Corporation and Pacific Venture Partners following suit two months later when they injected $5m into the firm.

In August last year, Ubiquisys raised a further $19m in an oversubscribed round from existing investors, as well as new Chinese backers Mobile Internet Capital and Nissay Capital.

Company
Founded in 2004 and based in Swindon, Ubiquisys is a provider of intelligent 3G and long-term evolution (LTE) small-cell technologies. Its solutions are designed to provide seamless connectivity across mobile heterogeneous networks for service providers.

Ubiquisys started out as a company focused on femtocells designed to improve network coverage inside buildings. The business refocused on small cells and mobile networks from 2006 onwards.

Ubiquisys's turnover and headcount are kept confidential.

People
Mike Chalfen led the exit for Advent. Advent's Frédéric Court was also a board member of Ubiquisys in 2010/11.

Advisers
Vendors (Advent Venture Partners) – Osborne Clarke (Legal); Gunderson (Legal); Pacific Crest Securities (M&A).