Belkin to buy Linksys router maker from Cisco

Privately held Belkin, based in Playa Vista, Calif., did not disclose the purchase price, nor did Cisco Systems Inc. The deal is expected to close in March.

Belkin intends to maintain the Linksys brand, as well as honor warranties on current and future Linksys products. The company said that after the acquisition, it will account for about 30 percent of the U.S. retail home and small-business networking market.

Cisco has been moving away from products it sells directly to consumers, and it laid out a strategy last month to become a leading supplier of information technology to big businesses.

In 2011 it shuttered its consumer-oriented Flip video camera business. Last year, it bought NDS Group Ltd., a U.K. software firm that helps cable and satellite TV companies deliver content to subscribers' digital video recorders, tablets, smartphones and other devices.