Cisco SEC Filing Details Plans to Buy 3 Start-Ups

Cisco Systems Inc., looking to ease investor concern about its accounting practices, provided an unusually detailed amount of financial information in a regulatory filing Monday, including the financing of four start-ups.

The San Jose maker of computer-networking equipment said it will buy three closely held start-up companies within six months for as much as $500 million in stock.

Cisco, in a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said it has already invested $38 million in the unidentified companies.

A fourth start-up may be purchased by July 2004 for up to $2.5 billion in stock.

Although Cisco has historically funded much of its research and development by buying young companies for Cisco stock, it has recently invested in start-ups, agreeing to acquire them only if certain technology and research milestones are met.

The company also reclassified revenue adjustments and deferrals after investors said last month that Cisco didn’t adequately explain how fiscal second-quarter revenue rose 8.3% from the prior period. The shares fell 8% on Feb. 7, the day after the results were released.

Cisco distributed a $334-million negative revenue adjustment and a positive $45-million revenue deferral among five categories of products and services, according to the filing.

In reclassifying revenue among routers, switches, access devices and other products, Cisco is backing out revenue adjustments and deferrals from the appropriate product and geographic categories, to make it easier for investors to gauge trends of Cisco’s businesses and geographic regions.

Cisco shares fell 38 cents to $17.42 on Nasdaq and declined to $17.37 in after-hours trading.

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Bloomberg News and Associated Press were used in compiling this report.