Polycom's 'momentous day' as Siris Capital completes $2 billion acquisition

Polycom has announced the completion of its acquisition by Siris Capital, in a $2 billion deal. The company will continue to operate as Polycom and will be wholly owned by Siris Capital affiliates.

As part of the acquisition, the company is also primed for new leadership, with Mary McDowell set to take over from Peter Leave as CEO and board member.

McDowell's experience as a technology executive comprises multi-billion dollar companies in mobile, consumer and enterprise sectors. Her previous position as executive partner at Siris Capital and EVP of mobile phones at Nokia gave her global P-L experience. She also held senior positions at Hewlett Packard and Compaq.

Currently serving on the boards of Autodesk, Bazaarvoice and UBM, McDowell says it's a 'momentous' day for Polycom.

"I'm honoured and excited to be a part of the Polycom team and to work to accelerate our ability to provide customers with easy-to-use, innovative experiences that help them achieve new levels of teamwork, efficiency and productivity. As an independent private company, we will build on Polycom's market leading position and make strategic, innovative moves to proactively address changing market dynamics and customer needs," McDowell says.

The company believes it is now well-position to extend its lead in the UC-C market and continue enhancing customer value.

"We are excited to be a part of Polycom's next chapter as we jointly work to create sustainable, long-term value for customers and partners," said Daniel Moloney, executive partner at Siris Capital.

"Together, with Mary and her team, we will enhance Polycom's strategy to lead the market in audio, video and content collaboration solutions and continue to provide customers with the same high level of commitment, focus, innovation and support.

Polycom's videoconferencing solutions help enterprises achieve teamwork, productivity and efficiency through 'human collaboration'. Polycom shareholders will receive $12.50 per share in cash for the acquisition.

The company has ceased stock trading on the NASDAQ as PLCM.