Irvine-based Linksys Group isn’t alone in Cisco Systems Inc. anymore.
Linksys, which sells wireless networking gear for homes and small businesses, was the lone wireless unit inside Cisco since the San Jose company bought it for $500 million two years ago.
Now Cisco has acquired San Jose-based Airespace Inc., doling out $450 million of its stock,its biggest acquisition since Linksys.
There’s more. Talk on some Web sites indicates Airespace also will keep its identity under Cisco. That kind of autonomy was a selling point for Victor Tsao, founder of Linksys, when he was in talks with Cisco to sell his company.
The move underscores an important point for Linksys: It sold at the right time. Now that the wireless networking market has been saturated, it appears consolidation is afoot. Tsao looks smarter than ever having fetched a price that catapulted him into the upper echelons of Orange County’s wealthiest. He also did good by his workers, who all saw some kind of payback from the buyout.
Waitt Selling Gateway Shares
Ted Waitt, the storied founder of Irvine-based Gateway Inc., seems content to pull back this time.
The latest sign: Waitt’s plan to sell about $100 million worth of shares in the computer maker. The proposed stock sale amounts to about 6% of Gateway’s total shares.
“While I still believe that stock ownership is an important way to maintain a personal stake in the company, this is a personal financial matter that allows me to diversify some of my financial interests after a long time out of the marketplace,” Waitt said in a statement.
Waitt stepped down as Gateway’s chief executive last year after the company closed its buy of Irvine’s eMachines Inc. for about $270 million.
Wayne Inouye, eMachines’ leader, took over as Gateway’s chief executive and moved the company from Poway in San Diego County, where Waitt lives, to Irvine. Inouye also installed several eMa-chines’ executives at Gateway.
Waitt stepped aside once before as chief executive, in 1999. But that didn’t last long. He came back a year later, firing Jeff Weitzen, who he had recruited just a year before.
This time seems different. Waitt still will be Gateway’s largest individual shareholder at about 22% after the stock sale. But he seems content to let Inouye try and turn around Gateway as he did with eMachines.
Right about now, Inouye is looking pretty smart. Thanks to Inouye’s decision to sell Gateway computers through big retailers, the company was able to sell 1.2 million PCs in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the company sold 926,000 computers at retail and only 102,000 direct in the quarter.
Wispry Lands Funding
Irvine-based Wispry Inc. got a starting boost.
The maker of radio frequency components and modules for wireless phones raised $6 million in a first round of venture financing.
South San Francisco’s Blueprint Ventures Partners led the round, which included investments from Roseville-based American River Ventures and San Diego’s Shepherd Ventures.
The money is set to go toward development and production of Wispry’s products, a spokeswoman said.
The company’s initial product is set to be a line of radio frequency switches that allow for improved antenna reception and more efficient energy usage, according to Wispry.
The product is meant for consumer electronics, such as wireless phones, handheld computers and game controllers.
Wispry was formed in 2002 in a split off of the radio frequency and wireless business unit of Austin, Texas-based Coventor Inc. The latest funding comes atop a million dollar seed round raised a year ago from Tech Coast Angels, a loose group of Southern California investors started in OC.
There are other nearby startups focusing on the wireless sector, including Laguna Niguel-based Bitfone Corp., which makes software for wireless phones. Last year, that company acquired Toronto’s Mobile Diagnostix Inc., its second buy in its short history.
Bitfone has raised nearly $60 million from Nokia Venture Partners, 3i Group, Cypress Ventures, Nexit Ventures, KTB Ventures, Prism Venture Partners and St. Paul Venture Capital.
Ebuilt Bought
Aliso Viejo-based US Technology Resources LLC has acquired Costa Mesa’s eBuilt Inc., a developer of e-commerce and other software for businesses.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
EBuilt develops e-commerce software and provides other network services. The company’s Web site lists Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Ingram Micro Inc. of Santa Ana and Irvine’s Viacore Inc. as customers.
US Technology is a technology service provider that develops custom software for big corporate customers. It also installs and maintains applications. The company is part of Comcraft Group, a global conglomerate with operations in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
“EBuilt has core strengths in software and system architecture, which made it an excellent match with US Technology’s growing business offerings,” said Dan Gupta, chief executive of US Technology.
The buy is a new chapter for eBuilt.
Founded in 1999, the company cashed in early as Internet startups and big businesses hired it and other development companies to build Web sites that allow for online transactions.
But as some Internet companies went out of business and Corporate America cut back on technology spending, eBuilt and others were forced to scale back or went out of business altogether.
EBuilt is profitable now, said Sajan Pillai, chief operating officer of US Technology. EBuilt gained five Fortune 500 clients last year, bringing its total to 38, he said.
