Belden looks to have pipped Extreme Networks to the post in its bid to acquire Ruckus Networks.

Reports in January suggested Extreme was looking to splash around $1 billion on Ruckus, but Belden confirmed this week it has a deal in place worth some $1.85 billion. The deal gives Belden a trove of intelligent network solutions in its bid to become an end-to-end IT and operational technology (OT) networking solutions provider.

“Ruckus offers proven, differentiated Wi-Fi and enterprise switching technology that our customers in hospitality, education, and health care are actively demanding, allowing us to deliver a more complete, end-to-end networking solution,” Belden CEO Ashish Chand noted. “Equally important, these same capabilities create a powerful opportunity to bring high-performance wireless and switching to our industrial customers, who are increasingly looking to converge their IT and OT environments.”

Ruckus Networks was founded in 2002. It was acquired by Brocade Communications in 2016, prior to Brocade's acquisition by Broadcom a year later.

Arris International later snapped up Ruckus for $800 million from Broadcom, only for CommScope to then acquire Arris in 2019.

But the acquisitions didn’t stop there, as CommScope began shedding off business segments as it looks to focus on access network solutions (ANS). Having already sold both its connectivity and cable solutions (CCS) and mobile networks business to Amphenol, CommScope rebranded itself as Vistance Networks – which has now sold Ruckus to Belden.

The departing brand supplies networking solutions for high-density, mission-critical environments, as well as a cloud networking platform to optimize deployment performance.

Ruckus adds to product categories Belden does not currently offer, including Wi-Fi and enterprise switching systems. Its prospective new owner said Ruckus will help it expand its total addressable market.

“Together, Belden and Ruckus will deliver a broader, higher-value networking solution for customers across enterprise and industrial environments, while strengthening our financial profile, generating strong free cash flow that supports rapid de-levering, and creating meaningful long-term value for stockholders,” Chand added.

Belden has brought J.P. Morgan on board to provide fully committed debt financing that gives Belden flexibility to optimize its permanent capital structure in the time between signing and closing based on market conditions. The deal is expected to close during the second half of this year.