Minor misstatement
Thanks for summarizing the perspectives on this case. Brocade feels that legal action should be a last resort but in situations like this it was critical and we are happy that the jury concurred with our perspective. We were truly shocked and disappointed when we learned of the actions of our competitor in this case.
I do want to point out a factual error which seems to flavor your impression of our acquisition of Foundry Networks. You stated, " The Foundry acquisition had odd aspects: Brocade dropping its original $3 billion bid to $2.6 billion, and did not take on any Foundry executive officers." Ken Cheng (VP & General Manager), Dan Fairfax (CFO) and Lisa McGill (HR VP) were all members of the Foundry executive team and they are serving those very roles on Brocade's executive team. The reduction of value, although not typical, was driven by the extraordinary drop in the stock market between offer and close and was thought to be best by the boards of both companies.
The acquisition of Foundry Networks by Brocade has brought about some of the most novel and cutting edge innovation in the networking industry over the past three years (including the first silicon based Ethernet Fabrics, affordable 100Gbs trunking, as well as advances in Application Delivery products). We are a company that takes pride in our commitment and understanding of our customers, as well as our ability to generate unique and valuable innovations. We will vigorously defend our intellectual property against anyone or any organization who attempts to compete through unfair or unethical practices.
John McHugh
Chief Marketing Officer
Brocade
Biting the hand that feeds IT
