Avaya board recommends $8.2 billion buyout

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 05 June 2007 13:27

IT Industry - Strategy

The anticipated acquisition of Avaya is set to go ahead, with Silver Lake and TPG Capital as the joint suitors.
Avaya has announced a "definitive merger agreement" (though it sounds more like a private equity buyout to us) with a transaction value of $US8.2 billion or $US17.50 cash per common share - a substantial premium on the company's recent share price.

Rumours of a possible takeover emerged around two weeks ago.

Avaya is a major supplier of IP telephony, contact centre and unified communications systems and services. It has alliances with many big names in the ICT industry, including AT&T, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, Sprint, Samsung and Unisys.

Avaya's board is recommending the deal to shareholders. "In addition to delivering compelling value for our shareholders, the partnership with Silver Lake and TPG also creates clear value for Avaya employees and customers," said president and CEO Louis D'Ambrosio,

Silver Lake has previously invested in Ameritrade, Business Objects, Gartner, MCI, NASDAQ, Network General, Seagate Technology and Thomson, while TPG Capital has had significant stakes in Freescale Semiconductor, Intergraph, Japan Telecom, Lenovo Group, Seagate Technology and others.