Cisco Systems Inc. today announced plans to sell its video software business to private equity firm Permira Advisers Ltd. in a deal that, by some accounts, is worth $1 billion.

There’s some conflicting information on the exact value of the deal. The $1 billion figure comes from reports by Reuters and Israeli business journal Globes that cited multiple sources familiar with the matter. However, two insiders who spoke with TechCrunch said that the deal was smaller, with one even calling the reported value “way off.” Either way, the price tag is clearly substantial.

Also today, Cisco announced it’s buying Accompany Inc. for $270 million in cash and assumed equity awards. The privately held company, based in Los Altos, California, sells a relationship intelligence platform for finding new prospects and navigating the selling process using artificial intelligence. Founder and Chief Executive Amy Chang will become senior vice president of Cisco’s Collaboration Technology Group.

Cisco’s video software business, meanwhile, which the company claims is profitable, boasts a range of major customers in the broadcasting industry. The list includes AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV, Vodafone Group plc and British media giant Sky plc to name a few.

The Service Provider Video Software Solutions group, as it’s officially known, provides tools for managing the complex logistics of broadcasting media content at scale. The division sells a platform for powering over-the-top streaming services and middleware that enables companies to build custom media delivery pipelines, as well as a variety of more specialized offerings.

The business was born from Cisco’s $5 billion acquisition of an Israeli firm called NDS Ltd. back in 2012. Permira is not so much taking over as taking back the group, since it was the majority stakeholder in NDS prior to the acquisition. The private equity firm plans to turn the acquired assets into a new company that will launch under a different name sometime after the transaction closes, which is expected to happen later this year.

As for Cisco, the deal will free more resources for the other parts of its service provider business. Yvette Kanouff, the senior vice president who heads the division, highlighted five areas in particular: mass-scale networking, automation, optical, optics, cable access and mobility.

Image: Cisco