Shoppers: Possible VoIP merger and acquisitions in 2009?
Apple
Would Apple buy Yahoo? At less than $11 a share and a market cap of $15 million it may be a target too tempting to resist. We could also see Mr. Jobs make a quick strike or two for software and/or HD audio technology.
BroadSoft
Sources tell us BroadSoft quietly secured some amount of venture capital in September, disconcerting staff who had been told last year that the company wasn't going to take another round.
Last week, Tessler told FierceVoip, "We always carefully consider opportunities for consolidation, but we want to stay in the applications layer and have been very clear that we won't go beneath that in the stack. Of course, in this climate, something may present itself as a must-take opportunity."
We're not sure if SaaS/hosted companies fall into the above definition, but being able to acquire recurring monthly revenues is always a good thing for any company.
Cisco
Do we need to explain further? Cisco may be trimming up its expenses, but it has plenty of free cash coming in quarter after quarter and an appetite for devouring companies. We wouldn't be surprised if Cisco reached deep into its wallet to make one big (multi-billion dollar) deal in 2009.
Dialogic
Dialogic wants to be a company with at least $400 million in sales, so we expect them to steadily add to the portfolio in 2009 with at least one player "consolidated" under the Dialogic flag.
EXFO
After buying Brix Networks and Navtel this year, what else is there left to buy in the testing and service assurances market? Maybe a SaaS play to get recurring revenue.
GENBAND
Nortel's Ethernet and optical networking assets may represent an opportunity for GENBAND to move beyond its IMS core strategy. Or not - Nortel wants a billion, it will "only" get $500 million.
Regardless, GENBAND doesn't mind buying up individual divisions of companies, and a number of vendors will want to tighten up their portfolios.
Dialogic and GENBAND
Could the two M&A kings end up together to build a potential billion dollar baby? It'd be an interesting marriage with Dialogic at the edge and GENBAND at the core.
Global Crossing
The company told the Wall Street Journal it was interested in possible mergers and acquisitions to gain scale, as they expect a new wave of consolidation in the next 18 months. CEO John Legere said the company has been "in talks with everyone" - whatever that means.
Who do you cross Global Crossing with? Given their all-IP religion, a pairing with XO might make sense, giving GC a bigger U.S. presence and a large metro network. Another interesting combination might be a merger with one of the top three CDN players - Akamai, Limelight or CDNetworks. CDNs need cheap pipe, while GC and other long-hauls would like to accumulate more peering relationships and more IP traffic.
If it's a slow news day, Google will likely buy a VoIP/IP communications company it thinks is hot, then sit on it for about 12 to 24 months while it figures out what to do with the acquisition. At least the company being bought will likely see cash, rather than stock, unless it's a mega-deal.
Microsoft
With $17.8 billion in cash on the books and no publically professed interest in Yahoo this minute (If Yahoo was such a great deal at $31 a share, why wouldn't be an excellent deal at $11 a share? Probably because Microsoft could afford to wait until Yahoo hits $5-7 a share before rolling back in), Microsoft has plenty of cash and a decent stock to offer young UC companies an offer they just can't refuse.
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