Acme Packet buys Covergence Inc. for $23M

Acme Packet announced Thursday it has bought Covergence, Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $22.8 million. Covergence shareholders will receive $22.2 million in Acme Packet common stock and an aggregate payment of $600,000 in cash.

Covergence provides software-based session border controllers for VoIP and UC to large enterprises, a market Acme Packet currently leads [1]. Acme Packet CEO Andy Ory said the Covergence acquisition extends his company's thought leadership with partners and customers.

"We've focused on building our core business of carrier-class session border controllers," Ory said. "This acquisition gives us another focus in our enterprise and provides critical mass in the market. Covergence made more and more sense as I did diligence on them, because its similar technology, market and geography make a great fit for us, and they've managed to generate significant mindshare in the industry."

Ory said the addition of Covergence's software-based product gives the combined company an end-to-end offering for global enterprises and their session border controller needs.

"SIP trunking - with its compelling return-on-investment and increasing worldwide availability - will drive many enterprises to deploy it to even the smallest of locations," Ory said. "With the acquisition of Covergence, Acme Packet accelerates its ability to now satisfy the SIP trunking SBC requirements of enterprise small offices and remote sites."

Covergence's SBC products add additional lower-cost options to Acme Packet's product line, expanding the company's reach into the SMB market. Covergence's core team will now work at Acme Packet's headquarters in Burlington, Mass., with three senior-level Covergence employees in executive roles within the combined company. Ory said the entire Covergence team was expected to be integrated into Acme Packet.

For more:
- see the Acme Packet press release here [2]