Cisco bets on India-born Jyoti Bansal's start-up AppDynamics for growth

Networking major pays nearly double the expected valuation ahead of AppDynamics' IPO

Cisco Systems Inc has agreed to buy AppDynamics, a US technology firm founded by Indian-born Jyoti Bansal, for $3.7 billion.

AppDynamics was to go public on Wednesday and was expected to be valued at around $1.9 billion, before it was bagged by Cisco at almost double the valuation. 

This makes it one of its largest deals in recent years as Cisco searches for growth beyond its core networking business. This is Cisco's largest acquisition since it bought security company Sourcefire for $2.7 billion in 2013.

Legacy technology players like Cisco have been trying to shift their strategy to stay ahead