CyberGuard snaps up SnapGear

CyberGuard, a manufacturer of security and networking hardware, announced a plan to acquire a competitor called SnapGear, which builds Linux-based products, the companies said Thursday. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based CyberGuard will pay $16 million, $1.6 million of which is cash and the rest of which is stock, in a deal expected to close by the end of the current quarter.

SnapGear and CyberGuard build special-purpose servers that run protective firewalls and set up virtual private network connections, an encrypted communication channel over the public Internet. SnapGear is a private company based in Australia that was spun off from former Linux company Lineo.