Acme Packet Plans to Expand Corporate Headquarters; Looks to Hire More than 180 New Employees in Massachusetts in 2011

Acme Packet® (NASDAQ: APKT), the leader in session delivery network solutions, today announced plans to expand its Bedford, Massachusetts global headquarters in order to meet a hiring goal of more than 180 new employees in Massachusetts this year.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Acme Packet President & CEO Andy Ory discuss the company's products at Acme Packet's global headquarters in Bedford, MA. Acme Packet announced that it plans to add more than 180 new employees in 2011 at its global headquarters and a total of 250 worldwide. The company was Massachusetts' best-performing stock in 2010. (Photo: Business Wire)

The arrangements for the expansion are expected to be completed within the next few weeks. Acme Packet expects that expansion would add approximately 110,000 square feet adjacent to its existing 151,000 square foot building. As of today, 443 of Acme Packet’s 679 person global workforce are employed in Bedford. The company has already hired 70 employees at this location this year and plans to add an additional 117 workers in the Commonwealth by the end of 2011. All of Acme Packet’s research and development, as well as the final test and assembly steps in its manufacturing processes, take place at its Bedford facility.

"We are proud of Acme Packet's success,” said Governor Patrick. "Our focus on innovation, education and infrastructure is building a positive, competitive business climate that gives exceptional companies a reason to grow and create jobs in Massachusetts.”

Governor Patrick joined Acme Packet founder, president and CEO Andy Ory for a tour of the headquarters’ manufacturing facilities and planned expansion space before meeting with employees.

"Our decision to locate our company in Massachusetts and make it our base of operations for our continued growth is intentional and strategic,” said Ory. "Attracting and retaining skilled employees continues to be an essential element of our success, and Massachusetts offers an unrivaled pool of talent. I commend Governor Patrick and his administration for their commitment to keeping Massachusetts competitive nationally and internationally as an attractive region in which to locate growing businesses like ours.”

A member of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy Partnership Mission 2011 to the United Kingdom led by Governor Patrick, as well as a member of the Massachusetts Tech Hub Collaborative executive committee, Ory is also co-founder of the Massachusetts 12x12 initiative, a group with a mission to drive entrepreneurship in Massachusetts.

Acme Packet was founded in Massachusetts in 2000. Since then, the company has established itself as one of Massachusetts’ most dramatic success stories. Acme Packet completed its initial public offering in October 2006 and now has a market capitalization of approximately $5 billion. In 2010, its stock delivered the best performance of any NASDAQ-listed company with a market capitalization above $1 billion and the best performance of any Massachusetts-based public company. Acme Packet was named "2010 Public Company of the Year” by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.

Also today, local officials unveiled MIDDLESEX 3, a new brand for the communities that make up the Route 3 Corridor, Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell. The brand is designed to help effectively promote the corridor and attract private business investment in this critical region. It was developed through a branding/marketing study the Commonwealth funded in 2009.

In announcing the new brand for the corridor on behalf of the communities, Bedford Town Manager Richard Reed expressed his enthusiasm for the effort. "Establishing a regional brand is an excellent example of how our communities can work collaboratively to encourage economic development in this corridor,” Reed said. "As local government officials, we realize that business leaders’ decisions to locate in this region of Massachusetts are not based solely on one particular municipality or another. Instead, corporate leaders first identify a general area where they think their company and employees can best prosper. Today’s announcement by Acme Packet confirms what we as local government officials already know. That is that MIDDLESEX 3 is an ideal location for economic expansion. We congratulate Acme Packet on their announcement today.”

About Acme Packet

Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT), the leader in session delivery network solutions, enables the trusted, first-class delivery of next-generation voice, data and unified communications services and applications across IP networks. Our Net-Net product family fulfills demanding security, service assurance and regulatory requirements in service provider, enterprise and contact center networks. Based in Bedford, Massachusetts, Acme Packet designs and manufactures its products in the USA, selling them through over 140 reseller partners worldwide. More than 1,350 customers in 105 countries have deployed over 12,000 Acme Packet systems, including 90 of the top 100 service providers and 32 of the Fortune 100. For more information visit www.acmepacket.com.

Acme Packet Safe Harbor Statement

Statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may relate, among other things, to our position in the session border control market, our expected financial and operating results, our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property rights, our ability to build and grow Acme Packet, our expected expansion at the Bedford facility, the expected hiring of additional workforce, the benefits and advantages of our products, including any enhancements or new features, services and programs, and our ability to achieve our goals, plans and objectives. Such forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These include, but are not limited to: difficulties in growing our customer base, difficulties leveraging market opportunities, difficulties providing solutions that meet the needs of customers, poor product sales, long sales cycles, difficulty developing new products, difficulty in relationships with vendors and partners, higher risk in international operations, difficulty managing rapid growth, and increased competition. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested in any forward-looking statements are contained in our recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors” in such filings.

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