NetScout Systems, Inc, the advanced network and service assurance solutions provider, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Network General Corporation, in a combined cash, stock, and debt transaction currently valued at approximately $205 million. The acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by early November. The newly combined entity will be headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts.

The acquisition furthers NetScout’s vision of providing superior network-based application performance management. The new, extended portfolio will directly benefit both customer sets by increasing the value of the NetScout solutions available to them while protecting their existing investments. NetScout customers will benefit from the addition of best-of-breed expert packet analysis and data mining, and Network General customers will benefit from best-of-breed real-time monitoring and rapid top-down troubleshooting.

The combined company will have a larger and more diversified customer base supported by a larger sales force and a planned doubling of R&D spending. The acquisition will accelerate NetScout’s recently announced entry into the Wireless Service Provider segment. With the addition of Network General’s leading technology, NetScout will be able to offer the best solution across a broad spectrum of performance monitoring and troubleshooting requirements.

NetScout is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts and has offices worldwide including Pune in India. Network General, a privately held company based in San Jose, California provides IT management solutions designed to integrate and simplify troubleshooting and management across IT domains.