3Com said Tuesday that it has appointed Robert Mao to replace Edgar Masri as CEO. The networking firm also brought on Ronald Sege as president and chief operating officer.

The shakeup isn’t entirely unexpected given the 3Com’s inability to sell itself to a group of investors led by Bain and Huawei, a Chinese networking company. The 3Com buyout was shot down over national security concerns.

Without the buyout, 3Com has to forge ahead as an independent company. And that typically means new management.

In a statement, 3Com said Mao’s mission will be to grow the company’s Chinese unit. Sege will “seek to maximize the value of its TippingPoint business as it continues on its path to greater operational autonomy.”

Mao had been executive vice president of corporate development at 3Com from August 2006 to March 2008. Before that Mao was in charge of Nortel’s China operations.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations. (Credit: ZDNet.)