Private equity firm Apax in talks to buy Polycom for $3 billion
Editor's Note: I have been expecting this for some time, if you noticed I did mention this subject when the whole Tandberg Cisco deal was going down. Apax - If you are reading this and this deal is going to close, please contact me, I would love to consult with you on some ideas I have for the future to give you more value in this acquisition. /end Polycom is a brand leader and has a lot of value to it. I am glad to see this, without the public company pressure, hopefully they can develop their brand and product line even more and become the 800 pound gorilla in the voice & video space.
Reuters - Private equity firm Apax Partners has been talking with Polycom Inc. to take the U.S. video conferencing company private for more than $3 billion, the Financial Times said. The news sent Polycom shares up 12 percent to $34.14, their highest since August 2007. They were trading up 9 percent at $33.25 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
"If it's a real bid, it's a very generous offer," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jess Lubert said. "I would not be surprised to see them take it." A deal could now prove unfeasible due to a surge in Polycom's shares since talks began, the paper cited people close to the situation as saying.
Polycom's shares are up 56 percent since hitting a low of $21.17 on November 30. Polycom and Apax declined to comment. The video conferencing market has been at the center of rising consolidation. Networking giant Cisco Systems plans to acquire Polycom's Norwegian rival, Tandberg. In December, Logitech acquired privately held video conferencing firm LifeSize Communications for $405 million.
Polycom and Tandberg control three-fourths of the video conferencing products market, which is expected to nearly double to $3.8 billion by 2013, according to market research firm Gartner.
Source: Reuters
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