Monday, March 10, 2008

LineSider inks OverDrive deal with 3Com

LineSider Technologies Inc. and 3Com Corp. report integrating LineSider software with 3Com's multiservice router platform.

The combined technology is designed to enable enterprises and managed service providers to manage Internet protocol-based services across their various network environments, company officials said.

LineSider's software -- called OverDrive -- combined with 3Com products is expected to virtualize networks, making it easier to manage services without needing to have dedicated appliances at customer sites, officials said.

No financial details of the deal were released.

LineSider, based in Danvers, develops security products for Internet protocol networks. The 15-employee company was founded in 2004.

3Com (Nasdaq: COMS), a Marlborough-based networking equipment maker, was founded in California in 1979 by a four-person team led by Ethernet inventor Robert Metcalfe, who is now a general partner at Polaris Ventures, a Waltham venture capital firm.

Last month, 3Com and its Chinese affiliate Huawei Technologies, and potential acquirer Bain Capital Partners LLC withdrew their joint filing to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) concerning Bain's proposed $2.2 billion acquisition.

The all-cash transaction was originally announced in September 2007.

In 2003, the company relocated from California to Massachusetts. The same year, 3Com also established a joint partnership with Huawei. Last November, 3Com paid $882 million to buy out Huawei's 49 percent stake.

The 6,000-person company reported $1.2 billion in sales in its fiscal 2007, which ended March 31, 2007, but absorbed an $88 million loss during the same period.