TippingPoint heading for IPO door

The IPO plan, according to 3Com chief executive Edgar Masri, allows the networking vendor to "focus more closely on its core business."

3Com intends to remain a majority TippingPoint shareholder following the IPO and plans to reduce its ownership over time in subsequent transactions. 3Com will consolidate TippingPoint results in its quarterly and annual financial reports in accordance with GAAP for the foreseeable future.

A successful TippingPoint IPO would confirm the end of a three-year drought among security start-ups looking to the public markets as an exit strategy.

Earlier this year, Sourcefire raised $75 million in an IPO splash and there's a slew of private firms lining up to the test the waters.

Anti-spam and e-mail archiving firm Postini and security and compliance management company ArcSight have hired Wall Street bankers to manage IPOs before the end of this year.

Authentec and Upek, competitors in the ID management and authentication space, have also filed registration statements with the SEC for proposed IPO offerings.