KippsDeSanto & Co. Advises Global Protocols on its Sale to Riverbed Technology

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KippsDeSanto & Co. is pleased to send you the attached press release announcing the acquisition of our client, Global Protocols LLC (“Global Protocols”), by Riverbed Technology, Inc. (“Riverbed”). Riverbed acquired Global Protocols to strengthen its Wide Area Network (“WAN”) optimization capabilities and solidify its presence within Federal markets. Global Protocols was a portfolio company of The White Oak Guggenheim Aerospace & Defense Fund. The transaction closed on November 9, 2010.

Headquartered in Greenbelt, Maryland, Global Protocols is a leading provider of Transport Control Protocol (“TCP”) solutions for stressed, tactical communications networks within military satellite communications (“SATCOM”) markets. The Company’s flagship offering, SkipWare, is a software-based protocol acceleration solution that centers around the Space Communications Protocol Standards Transport Protocol (“SCPS-TP”), the Department of Defense’s (“DoD”) most commonly specified requirement for fixed and mobile satellite networking. The SkipWare solution differentiates itself from competing offerings by delivering leading levels of bandwidth optimization, error-tolerance, and interoperability for military SATCOM networks. The acquisition represents a continuation of the two companies’ partnership that began in 2008 with the goal of providing enabling bandwidth optimization solutions for mission-critical network communications initiatives within defense and intelligence agencies.

The White Oak Guggenheim Aerospace & Defense Fund is a committed fund of The White Oak Group, Inc, an Atlanta based investment firm focused on aerospace and defense, healthcare technology, and alternative energy / power solutions.

We believe this transaction demonstrates several key trends in the defense M&A environment:

  • Growing demand from U.S. military agencies for SATCOM and mobile bandwidth solutions, driven by the DoD’s emphasis on network-centric warfare and the surge of bandwidth consumption by U.S. armed forces over the last decade.
  • Considerable funding and attention aimed at defense communications technologies that support high-priority military mission areas.
  • M&A processes driven by buyers looking to leverage sellers’ differentiated technology and intellectual property within core existing product lines.
  • Private sector companies vying to establish strong positions within the Federal arena to take advantage of less volatile markets in light of the recent economic downturn.

KippsDeSanto & Co. is an investment bank focused on delivering exceptional M&A and financing transaction results for leading technology and defense companies. For more information on KippsDeSanto & Co., please visit www.kippsdesanto.com. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how KippsDeSanto & Co. can help you achieve your strategic objectives. For more information on this particular transaction, please contact one of our senior professionals.

 

PRESS RELEASE

Riverbed Solidifies Federal Market Leadership With The Acquisition of Global Protocols LLC

Riverbed™ Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD), the IT performance company, today announced it has acquired Global Protocols LLC, a leader in helping government organizations achieve greater application performance across satellite networks using the Space Communications Protocol Standards (SCPS). The addition of Global Protocols’ industry-leading technology, SkipWare, to Riverbed® WAN optimization will bolster Riverbed’s leadership position in delivering optimization solutions for satellite networks.

SCPS is a protocol solution that was developed by NASA and US Space Command, and is used by military and other organizations that operate in satellite networking environments to overcome the severe performance degradation caused by weather and other interference that jeopardizes mission-critical communications. Global Protocols’ SkipWare product has a customer base in military, civilian and Department of Defense (DoD) agencies that operate over satellite networks. The acquisition will allow Riverbed to build on its success in providing DoD and other organizations with IT performance solutions that meet their rigorous standards, and bring the joint solution to the wide range of organizations using satellite networks for business-critical communications.

The acquisition of Global Protocols is an expansion of the existing partnership between Riverbed and Global Protocols. Since announcing its partnership in 2008, Riverbed and Global Protocols have enabled joint customers to achieve high-performance, secure access to mission-critical information by combining the award-winning WAN optimization capabilities of Riverbed Steelhead® appliances with best-of-breed SkipWare functionality from Global Protocols within the Riverbed Services Platform (RSP).

“Government organizations are pressured to adhere to strict guidelines, but also realize that performance is paramount to their success. Riverbed has been successful working with government organizations to speed access to mission-critical data over the WAN. By partnering with Global Protocols in 2008, we extended our reach and deepened our investment in the federal market,” said Jerry Kennelly, chief executive officer at Riverbed. “Adding Global Protocols’ technology to our product portfolio as a result of this acquisition will enable customers to derive even greater value out of the combined solution.”

Enterprises and government organizations leverage Riverbed WAN optimization to improve remote and mobile employee productivity, enable private clouds, and provide enterprise-wide network and application visibility. By speeding the performance of applications between remote offices, private data centers and mobile workers, typically by five to 50 times and in some cases up to 100 times, Riverbed Steelhead products enable organizations to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. More than 8,700 customers, across a wide range of markets, have implemented Riverbed WAN optimization solutions in their geographically dispersed organizations.