VoIP HD conferencing service Vapps picked by Citrix Systems

Citrix Systems quietly has bought HD voice conference provider Vapps for $26.6 million in cash.

Terms of the deal came to light through Citrix's November 14 SEC 10-Q filing. Vapps was one of the earliest service providers to offer high-definition audio conference services, and it works with VoIP or Skype. The company has partnered with Adobe, Skype, Gizmo, Yahoo and MSN to provide high-quality audio conferencing for home offices and SMBs.

So-called 16 KHz "wideband" codecs provide high-quality voice over and above stock 8 KHz VoIP encoding (roughly what you'd get on a PSTN call). Vapps supports up to 500 callers on the line and provides a monthly flat rate service that encourages all day use. Vapps customers reportedly use roughly half a billion minutes per year.

In addition to the $26.6 million in cash, Vapps also has the usual "if they meet certain goals" incentives at a not-so-usual $4.4 million price tag. Vapps and Citrix have been negotiating the deal for "several months."

First-and-only investor Azure Capital Partners is smiling, having made a 3.6 times return on its initial VC stake put in 18 months ago - a bit shorter than the typical multi-year waits VC typically are used to.

Citrix Systems will be able to add the HD conference solution to its GoToMeeting service, giving it an enhancement to its existing offering.

For more:
- NY Times Blog [1] reports the Citrix/Vapps buy