Worldwide broadband communications solutions provider, Polycom, and PictureTel Corporation have announced an agreement under which Polycom will acquire PictureTel for about $US362 million in stock and cash.
Under the terms of the agreement, Polycom will offer to purchase all the outstanding shares of PictureTel for a combination of 0.1177 shares of Polycom common stock and $3.22 in cash to be exchanged for each share of PictureTel.
According to a Polycom statement, in total, some 6.7 million shares of Polycom common stock and $176 million in cash will be exchanged for all outstanding shares of PictureTel and Polycom will assume PictureTel options exercisable into about 1.4 million shares of Polycom's common stock.
The estimated value of the transaction is about $362 million, or $6.42 per share. The offer will be followed by a merger in which Polycom common stock and cash will be issued at the same exchange ratio paid in the offer.
The acquisition, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, is also subject to the tender of a majority of the outstanding fully-diluted shares of PictureTel common stock and other customary closing conditions, including obtaining applicable regulatory approval.
A Polycom spokesman said as a result of this acquisition, Polycom will be positioned to further leverage their own video communications technology with PictureTel's collaboration-intensive offering.
Polycom's Australian customers include TMP Worldwide (formerly Morgan & Banks), Cisco, The Department of Defence, The Department of Employment, Work Relations and Small Business.