Enterprise instant-messaging vendor Tumbleweed Communications Corp. has acquired antispam appliance vendor Corvigo Inc. in a deal Tumbleweed hopes will give it a broader reach in the IT marketplace.

In an announcement Thursday, Tumbleweed said it will pay about US$38.5 million in stock and cash for Corvigo, which makes a hardened, secure, Linux-based antispam appliance called MailGate. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company uses "intent-based filtering" artificial intelligence technology to eliminate spam e-mail by analyzing it and determining if it is spam or a desired message.

"The acquisition of Corvigo brings critical assets to Tumbleweed: A best-in-class Linux-based appliance, a growing channel of resellers and, perhaps most importantly, a leading team of experts in the Linux antispam appliance market," Jeff Smith, the chairman and CEO of Tumbleweed, said in a statement.

Jeff Ready, CEO of Corvigo, said in a statement that his company's antispam appliances are "a strong complement to Tumbleweed's e-mail security, antispam, authentication and e-mail firewall assets. Moreover, we believe our growing channel of resellers is strategically significant for both the Corvigo and Tumbleweed products."