Fluke Electronics Corp. on Friday agreed to buy Visual Networks Inc., a Rockville, Md.-based maker of software to manage networks and computer programs, for $1.83 per share in cash - a 25 percent premium over the closing price Thursday.
Fluke valued the sale at about $75 million, including transaction costs and the net of estimated cash to be acquired. The purchase, which would need approval by the shareholders of Visual Networks, is expected to close by April 1.
Visual Networks, with revenue of $52 million last year, specializes in managing the increasingly popular Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, technology. It has about 100 employees.
The company will become part of subsidiary Fluke Networks. Dan Wright, a spokesman for that subsidiary, said it's too soon to know whether any of Visual Networks' employees will move to this area.
Fluke Electronics Corp., with 1,840 employees, is a subsidiary of Washington, D.C.-based Danaher Corp., a manufacturer that generated $6.8 billion in revenue last year.
