Comcast Business To Acquire Masergy In SD-WAN Blockbuster

The Philadelphia-based cable giant plans to buy channel-first hybrid networking player Masergy in a deal that will give the cable giant more SD-WAN acumen.

Comcast plans to nab Masergy Communications, a channel-first hybrid networking and SDN specialist in a deal that will give the cable giant more software-defined networking muscle.

The acquisition will help Comcast build up its SD-WAN and cloud-based security chops at a time in which demand for software-defined and cloud services are taking off. The two companies revealed the proposed deal on Wednesday.

The companies did not disclose financial terms of the transaction.

Plano, Texas-based Masergy, which specializes in managed SD-WAN and security , as well as cloud-based unified communications solutions, does about 80 percent of its business through partners. The company has more than 1,400 customers across 102 countries, including the likes of Amgen, Ancestry.com LLC, and payment service provider Ingenico. Masergy was acquired by private equity firm Berkshire Partners in 2016 for an undisclosed price.

[Related: Masergy Channel Sales Up 70 Percent YoY Thanks To The Zenith Partner Program]

“Comcast has been kind of hamstrung where they have a great network, and they’ve got SD-WAN, but people really don’t think of them for SD-WAN,” said one Comcast channel partner who asked not to be named. The partner said that the acquisition would give Comcast not only the SD-WAN credibility it’s been looking for, but an international presence as well.

Comcast’s business segment in its most recent fiscal quarter pulled in $2.20 billion, up 9.9 percent when compared to Q2 2020 a year ago. However, the company’s business unit has historically been very successful in the small- to midsize-business space with its connectivity services.

Solution providers told CRN that the deal could push Philadelphia-based Comcast into more large enterprise accounts, including Masergy’s marquee accounts.

“There’s probably going to be some cross selling opportunities there. I think once they connect their [network operations centers] NOCs together on the back end, Comcast will be able to add Masergy-level security to like their existing network accounts because the networks will talk to each other -- that will be super cool,” said Patrick Oborn, co-founder and chief product officer for Sandy, Utah-based Telarus, a Comcast and Masergy partner.

The deal is currently under regulatory review, according to Comcast.

Masergy has a total of 640 employees, according to LinkedIn.