Cisco in court after Acacia ends $2.84bn merger deal

Cisco Systems Inc on Friday sought a court order asking Acacia Communications Inc to close the $2.84 billion deal, just over an hour after the optical component maker terminated the merger agreement.

The swift response came after Acacia said the deal failed to obtain regulatory approval from China within the originally agreed time frame.

Cisco said it received the approval on Thursday and sought confirmation from the Delaware Court of Chancery that it has met all conditions for closing the deal.

The network gear maker had agreed to buy Acacia in cash in 2019, aiming to garner a bigger chunk of 5G spending by telecom companies.

The merger, initially expected to close in the second half of Cisco's fiscal 2020, was cleared by the United States, Germany and Austria, but had been under regulatory review by China, the only remaining closing condition of the deal.

Shares of Cisco rose nearly 1% early trading, while Acacia jumped about 9%.