3Com: H-P to Build Tech 'One-Stop Shop'

"That's obviously a fundamental element of the deal," said Sege. "There haven't been a lot of better alternatives on the market that can have the scale that we can once this deal closes."

Another aspect of the deal, somewhat overlooked in all the brouhaha surrounding China and Cisco, is 3Com's security technology. The networking specialist bought TippingPoint for around $430 million in 2005, which could now boost H-P's own security story.

"I think it's going to feature prominently -- it certainly features prominently in our portfolio," Sege told TheStreet. "In September we announced that the Tipping Point technology was going on the H3C switching and routing products."

3Com's stock has reaped the benefits of the H-P deal. After closing at $5.69 when H-P announced the acquisition on Sep. 11, 3Com's shares are currently trading around $7.43.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2010, at which point 3Com will add its products to H-P's existing ProCurve networking portfolio.

-- Reported by James Rogers in New York

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