Cisco to reel in Nemo

Cisco Systems announced Friday it plans to acquire Nemo Systems in a $12.5 million cash deal designed to bolster its ability to offer scalable network systems via Nemo's network memory chips.

Founded in 2003, privately held Nemo is a fabless semiconductor company that develops memory chips for network systems. Cisco plans to incorporate Nemo's technology into its products to improve its core switching platforms and service modules.

The merger is designed to allow Cisco's customers to enlarge their network systems and increase their line card, or circuit board, capacity.

Cisco plans to integrate Los Altos, Calif.-based Nemo into its Data Center, Switching and Security Technology Group. The deal is expected to close by the end of next month.

In July, Cisco acquired Sheer Networks in a $122 million deal, within a week after announcing its plans to acquire consumer-product developer Kiss Technology.

And last year, Cisco acquired competing router maker Procket Networks to enhance its engineering team. Procket relied on a shared-memory architecture for its routers. Cisco, meanwhile, has its GSR and CRS routers running on a centralized switch fabric architecture.