Cisco is planning an acquisition spree in India

Cisco Systems may accelerate the pace of acquisitions in India with a focus on B2B and enterprise segments, a top executive at the US technology company’s investment arm said.

“The acquisitions that have any relevance for Cisco span the spectrum from the largest deals Cisco has done to also smaller acquisitions. The picture that it paints is India is really a huge focus from that perspective,” Rob Salvagno, the head of corporate development at Cisco Investments, told ET during a recent interaction.

Cisco Investments, which invests directly as well as through venture funds, has stakes in more than 200 companies across the globe. Last year, in one of its biggest acquisitions ever, Cisco acquired AppDynamics, an application and business monitoring software company cofounded by India-born Jyoti Bansal, for $3.7 billion.

“In the next phase, the biggest impact you see from our corporate development activities is from our investments, whether it’s direct investments in startups or through LP funds. As these companies and markets begin to mature, I think that will lead to more interesting M&A candidates going forward,” he said.

Increased relevance of B2B and enterprise technologies can lead to increased M&A activity, Salvagno said. “It’s a potential pipeline for us. The market here is starting to accelerate from an overall enterprise perspective and that is an important macro trend.”

Before buying AppDynamics, Cisco had acquired two Indian startups focussed on cloud software. In its first India acquisition two years back, Cisco bought Bengaluru-based Pawaa, which provided an on-premise and cloud-based file-sharing software. Last year, it acquired Cmpute.io, also based in Bengaluru, to beef up its cloud offerings.

Over the past year, Cisco has added new leadership to strengthen its India strategy. Sameer Garde has come on board last year as president of the company’s India and SAARC operations.