Unified communications company Polycom and wireless telephony company Spectralink have signed a definitive agreement under which Polycom will acquire SpectraLink.
Under the terms of the agreement, Polycom will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of SpectraLink for $11.75 per share. This represents an enterprise value of approximately $220 million, which is net of existing cash and debt. The acquisition, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is also subject to a number of customary closing conditions, including obtaining applicable regulatory approvals. The board of directors of SpectraLink has unanimously recommended that the stockholders of SpectraLink accept the offer. Polycom expects to commence the tender promptly, and the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2007. Excluding non-recurring acquisition related expenses and non-cash charges, Polycom expects the acquisition to be slightly accretive in 2007.
“The SpectraLink acquisition extends Polycom’s leading IP-based collaboration solution to the rapidly-growing mobility environment,” stated Robert Hagerty, Chairman and CEO of Polycom. “Our customers are demanding wireless solutions in the enterprise and in the vertical markets we serve. Leveraging our proven strength in Polycom voice over IP (VoIP) solutions, we believe this combination yields the key strategic synergy of uniquely positioning Polycom as the only independent provider of both fixed and mobile solutions that seamlessly encompass voice, video, and data collaboration solutions from the desktop, to the meeting room, to the mobile individual.”
“Voice over Wi-Fi is a high growth market,” stated Sunil Bhalla, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Polycom’s Voice Division. “Wireless IP telephony is emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments in the IT segment. We believe integrating SpectraLink into Polycom will yield multiple immediate synergies: (1) rapidly extending Polycom’s interoperability with the enterprise SIP telephony leaders to the SpectraLink wireless handset solutions, (2) leveraging SpectraLink’s strength with key vertical markets such as retail, hospitality, and healthcare into Polycom’s core voice and video offerings, (3) strengthening our mutual strategic partner relationships such as Avaya, Alcatel, Cisco, and Nortel, and creating new opportunities for SpectraLink with Microsoft, IBM, and others, and (4) utilizing Polycom’s global channel network and high-touch sales force to sell SpectraLink mobility solutions to a broader customer set. All of these synergies deliver the opportunity for the combined company to deliver compelling fixed and mobile solutions which we believe will drive growth at both the top and bottom line.”
“We are excited about the strategic synergies driven by this combination,” said John Elms, President and CEO of SpectraLink. “With Polycom’s global leadership and presence, combined with SpectraLink’s unparalleled wireless telephony offering, we are confident that Polycom can capture the rapidly-growing mobile voice over IP opportunity across enterprise and verticals worldwide. Our management team here at SpectraLink is delighted with the opportunity to drive growth with Polycom as we launch our unified solution.”