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San Jose, CA - Cisco Systems announced yesterday that it purchased
Tom's Nets for $2.3 billion in cash and stock. Tom's Nets is
the leading fishing net and fishing net accessories supplier in Tillamook,
Oregon. Tom's Nets is privately held by Tom and had sales of
$0.63 million last year, but was profitable.
 "I got a call yesterday asking if
I wanted to sell my business for $2.3 billion. I thought it
was a joke. Next I knew, I was signing the papers," Tom
said. Cisco has a history of keeping the employees of acquired companies
and it appears the Tom will stay on to run the new Net Division.
"This is an exciting day for Cisco Systems. Tom's Nets
is the leading supplier of net products in northwest Oregon." said
CEO, John Chambers, "This acquisition is part of Cisco's plan
to dominate all net markets. Once again we are first into this
market. I don't think Lucent has even thought about this market."
Lucent responded to the charges of being a Johnny-Come-Lately by
purchasing nearby Frank's Bait and Tackle for $2.8 billion. "Cisco
may have been first in this market, but with our purchase of Frank's
Bait and Tackle we have a much broader product line than Cisco in
one fell swoop."
Wall street analysts were confused by the deal, but several stated
that nothing surprised them in this crazy market. Bear Stearns
analyst Ken Hibbard said "They are either running out of computer
networking companies to buy, or they didn't do proper due diligence. Either
way I think they overpaid by about $2.29 billion."
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