Syniverse Had Eight Suitors before Carlyle’s Buyout Offer
Syniverse Holdings Inc., the communications-equipment company, had eight potential buyers before Carlyle Group agreed last month to take the company private for $31 a share, or $2.6 billion.
According to a regulatory filing, in August, Syniverse’s financial adviser, Deutsche Bank AG, presented the board of directors with six financial buyers, including Carlyle, which had expressed interest in acquiring the company. Two other companies in the technology industry also expressed interest.
The ranks of interested parties thinned out over the following months as the offers for the company rose from $21.53 a share to more than $30. In the final days, Carlyle and another technology company, referred to as Company B in the filing, were bidding against each other.
The telecommunications industry, which was hurt by lower spending by carriers and businesses amid a global recession last year, is recovering amid demand for mobile data on devices like Apple Inc.’s iPad and smartphones. Last month, Carlyle also agreed to buy fiber-optic cable maker CommScope Inc. for $3.9 billion.
Company B’s final offer was $30.75 a share, though the company called Deutsche Bank the day the merger agreement with Carlyle was completed to say it might be willing to offer more. However, the company never followed up, according to the filing. Company B had said earlier in the process it might offer as much as $31.25 in cash and stock under certain circumstances.
Telefonica selects Syniverse to speed up Roaming Time in Latin America
If reports are to be believed, Telefonica SA has selected Syniverse Technologies to serve as its exclusive provider of roaming business management service at 11 of its properties in Latin America.
As per the agreement, Syniverse’s experts will make use of the company’s GAIN Roaming Business Management Service and speed up and streamline Telef³nica’s roaming service.
Syniverse will also complete IREG and TADIG tests on behalf of the operator to make sure that the service complies with the industry standards.
According to Sergio S¡nchez, Director of Business Development for P&S-Voice and Roaming, Telef³nica LatAm, Syniverse’s status as a long-term, trusted service provider was a significant reason why it chose the organization to manage essential roaming management business processes for its Latin American properties.
According toTony Holcombe, President and CEO, Syniverse, delays in putting roaming agreements into operation often can mean money left on the table for the operator. By relying on our highly skilled roaming specialists, Telef³nica operators in Latin America will speed time to market for roaming services and, as an added benefit, be able to dedicate internal resources to other critical areas of their roaming businesses. Because GAIN is fully customizable, Syniverse was able to assess the specific needs of Telef³nica properties and tailor the solution to meet their exact requirements.
MNP deadline to be missed by MTNL, BSNL (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: BSNL and MTNL, both state-controlled telcos in India will not be able to meet the deadline set by Indian government for supporting mobile number portability (MNP). Both the companies have said that the deadline of end of 2009 will not be met as the necessary upgrades to their systems will take few more months.
The Department of Telecoms earlier decided that key metro markets will offer MNP by the end of this year while the rest of the country will receive it from next June. However, the service was supposed to be available from the end of September but the problems with the regulators and operators lead to its delay.
According to TRAI chairman JS Sarma, the companies may be labeled as anti consumer if they fail to meet the deadline this time. As per the guidelines decided by the Department of Telecommunications, country will be geographically divided into two Number Portability Zones namely zone 1 & zone 2, with11 licensed service areas each.
The license for Zone 1 (Northern and Western India) was granted to Syniverse Technologies while MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions received the license for Zone 2 (Eastern and Southern India).
The selections were done on the basis of the guidelines for MNP service license.
EU to investigate Syniverse takeover of BSG
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into Syniverse’s planned takeover of BSG. The commission is concerned about overlap in the two companies’ mobile roaming data clearing services. An initial look at the deal raised “serious doubts” about whether the merger would be in line with EU competition policy. The takeover, announced in April for USD 290 million, would reduce the number of roaming data clearing services in Europe to two from three. The commission has 90 working days for the investigation before taking a final decision on whether to clear the deal. The investigation will look at whether the proposed merger and the subsequent concentration in the market would be likely to lead to higher prices and lower quality for data clearing services.
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