Polycom’s board has accepted a $2 billion takeover bid from Siris Capital, ending a long battle to gain control and bring stability to the struggling voice network supplier.
After meeting regulatory approvals and satisfying customary closing conditions, Polycom said the acquisition will be completed by the end of either September or October.
During a special meeting of its stockholders in July, Polycom accepted the $2 billion takeover bid from the private equity firm, which beat a previous offer agreed with rival Mitel.
This deal could bring some stability to the company that initially became known for its voice and video conferencing solutions.
Polycom faced pressure in recent years to revamp its structure by merging or being purchased by another company. Activist shareholder Elliot Management helped broker a deal between Mitel and Polycom in 2015 as a way to scale their operations to gain further share in the unified communications and collaboration segments.
But the question is what this deal means for Mitel’s growth plans.
In April, Mitel struck a deal to acquire Polycom for $1.96 billion in cash and stock, in a deal that would have the Canadian company a new set of new conference and video collaboration capabilities. At that time, Mitel said it will combine its expertise in voice communications networking with Polycom's well-known brand and portfolio in the conference and video collaboration market.
However, after Siris launched a bid for Polycom, Mitel said it would not increase its price to get the company.
Polycom is just one of several acquisitions Mitel has either made, or tried to make, to bolster its product portfolio. After two failed bids for rival PBX provider ShoreTel, Mitel enhanced its portfolio by acquiring Corvisa and Mavenir, two deals that enhanced its UC cloud and enterprise collaboration capabilities.
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