Plantronics gets rolling on $2 billion Polycom acquisition

Plantronics has announced it will acquire unified communications specialist Polycom in a cash and stock transaction worth $2 billion, expected to close by the end of the third quarter.

The pair claim the deal will create the broadest portfolio of communications and collaboration endpoints for the $39.9 billion UCC industry, adding voice and video collaboration expertise to the Plantronics strategy of ‘delivering new communications and collaboration experiences’. Bringing the two companies together will enable Plantronics to target new opportunities in the data analytics and insight services segments, the company said.

“Polycom has returned to growth by focusing on building strong ecosystem partnerships and delivering innovative, smart solutions for our customers and partners,” said Mary T. McDowell, CEO of Polycom. “Bringing Plantronics and Polycom together will broaden the breadth of solutions available to customers and partners and create a consistent end-user experience across many collaboration applications and devices. As one company, Plantronics and Polycom will make it even easier for all customers to solve big-business problems through human-to-human connections.”

“With the addition of Polycom’s solutions across video, audio and collaboration we will be able to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of communications and collaboration touch points and services to our customers and channel partners,” said Joe Burton, CEO of Plantronics. “This will put Plantronics in an ideal position to solve for today’s enterprise collaboration requirements while capitalizing on market opportunities associated with the evolving, intelligent enterprise.”

In terms of the specifics, the $2 billion will consist of an estimated $690 million in net debt and an estimated $948 million in cash and 6.352 million Plantronics shares, valued at $362 million based on the 20 trading day average. Polycom shareholders will own approximately 16% of the combined company. Siris’ Capital’s (an investor in Polycom) Frank Baker, Managing Partner, and Daniel Moloney, Executive Partner, will join Plantronics Board of Directors.

This is not the first time Polycom has been in the news regarding an acquisition. Back in 2016, Polycom was the centre of consolidation talk with Mitel, though the pair parted ways after Polycom received a superior offer from Siris Capital.