Seeking to strengthen its position in the cellular backhaul market, next generation network solutions provider Verso Technologies Inc. has reportedly acquired the AccessGate division of NMS Communications.
According to reports, Verso paid NMS $850,000 in cash and issued to NMS restricted shares of Verso common stock having an aggregate value equal to $2.5 million. Verso also assumed certain liabilities associated with the AccessGate division as part of the acquisition.
Verso will now integrate the AccessGate division with its NetPerformer optimization product line. According to Steven A. Odom, chairman and chief executive officer of Verso, the acquisition “roughly doubles the size of Verso's cellular backhaul optimization business, which has strong positive implications for gross margin and profitability of that business unit and, therefore, the overall financial performance of Verso.”
“The transaction is accretive to Verso immediately,” Odom said in a press release. “It is expected to contribute in excess of $10 million in revenue over the next year and allows us to fill product gaps in Verso's current NetPerformer product family. In addition to the cost savings related to the integration of these two businesses, we gain new sales channels through which we can cross-sell additional Verso products and we acquire members of a very capable and knowledgeable management team whom will remain with the company and take over responsibility for all of Verso's backhaul optimization business.”
Mark Dunaway, president and chief operating officer of Verso said not only will the acquisition increase revenue, it will also “increase our gross margin for all of our wireless backhaul products.” In addition, the acquisition “will allow us to reduce duplicated product roadmap development efforts which will enable us to bring new products to market ahead of schedule and at a much lower cost.”
AccessGate’s patended technology enables wireless operators to affordably backhaul bandwidth to connect geographically dispersed cell sites to their core networks. The need for this technology will only continue to grow as wireless operators continue to expand their networks and roll out new multimedia services. According to a recent study from ABI Research (News - Alert), global capital expenditures for backhaul are forecast to increase from $14 billion in 2007 to $23 billion in 2012.
According to the release, the AccessGate technology should be easy to integrate with Verso’s existing product suite.
Verso last made news on TMCnet in October when the company announced that Lebanon’s Splendor Telecom had decided to deploy its MetroNet VoIP Overlay solution for its next generation network. The deal includes deployment of Verso’s I-Master solution, which supports the creation of new revenue sources, enabling service providers to branch out and deliver value added services. Verso played a key role in the rollout of Splendor Telecom’s new web-based telephony service, called Ahwar. TMC Net
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