Cisco Buys Growth Networks

Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy closely held Growth Networks Inc. for about $355 million in stock to add semiconductors that speed up computer networks. Growth Networks, founded in 1998 and based in Mountain View, Calif., makes chips that help information flow through network switches and routers at faster speeds. The company’s 53 employees will join Cisco’s Public IP Carrier Systems Group. Cisco wants to offer faster versions of its most expensive switches and routers to fend off competition from Lucent Technologies Inc., Juniper Networks Inc. and other telephone equipment makers. The Growth Networks agreement is expected to close during Cisco’s fourth quarter, which ends in July. Cisco closed off 83 cents at $127.17 on Nasdaq.