PGi, a company that has operated in the collaboration and virtual meetings arena for 20-plus years, has acquired Via-Vox, trading under the name Powwownow, one of Europe's fastest growing conferencing and collaboration providers focused on SMBs, for a cash purchase price of approximately $52.6m. PGi funded the purchase through its credit facility and cash and equivalents on hand.
"Powwownow's presence in the UK SMB space makes it a valuable acquisition for PGi," said Boland T. Jones, PGi founder, Chairman and CEO.
"The acquisition reinforces our strategy of expanding PGi's customer base and identifying products that enhance our portfolio, while delivering meaningful revenue and earnings accretion that enable us to fund additional growth investments."
Founded in 2004, Powwownow serves approximately 240,000 users in the UK, France and Germany and has a current projected annual revenue run rate of approximately $22m. Following the acquisition Powwownow users gain access to PGi's web conferencing solutions, iMeet and GlobalMeet.
Marc Beattie, senior analyst, Wainhouse Research, observed: "Powwownow's brand and approach to audio conferencing has yielded powerful growth in Europe, particularly in the UK. This acquisition provides PGi with a growing brand and a captive audience for its iMeet and GlobalMeet web products."
Paul Lees, founder and CEO of Powwownow, added: "Joining forces with PGi expands the scale, reach and service options available to Powwownow customers.
"Powwownow brings PGi new go-to-market capabilities, including our brand awareness, small business marketing expertise and online infrastructure."