In another indication that the market for technology transactions is gathering steam, Cisco announced last month its intention to buy Splunk for $28 billion. The networking company is spending a non-trivial fraction of its market capitalization on the transaction, and while Splunk shareholders are cheering the deal and the premium it may bring to their own holdings, Cisco’s shareholders appear to be less enthused, if the stock price is any indication. In strategic terms, the deal is being hailed as a big win for both teams, bringing together AI and data management capabilities, especially as applied to cybersecurity of Splunk with Cisco’s network data. Together they have the potential to be a powerful combination, but bringing together two large companies like this is no small task, and the ability to merge two cultures is going to go a long way in measuring the success of the deal. In financial terms, it’s interesting. While the recent Klaviyo IPO gave us a look at how the market values high-growth software companies as they go public, the Cisco-Splunk …