WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- Comverse, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSI), a global leader in digital services, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acision, a privately-held leader in secure mobile messaging and engagement services, based in Reading, United Kingdom. Comverse will acquire Acision for a purchase price consisting of approximately $135 million in cash, 3.13 million shares of Comverse’s common stock, and potential earnout payments of up to $35 million. In addition, Comverse will seek to maintain Acision’s existing $157 million senior credit facility following completion of the transaction. The Boards of Directors of Comverse and Acision have approved the transaction, which, subject to satisfying closing conditions, is expected to be complete by the end of the third calendar quarter. Following completion of the transaction, the new company will be led by a team comprised of executives from both organizations under the leadership of Comverse CEO Philippe Tartavull and the company will remain headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA.

Enabling Today’s Digital Services
In addition to offering market-leading Cloud Multi-VAS and IP messaging solutions, the combined company will provide Service Providers, Over the Top (OTT), and Enterprise customers with a wide array of fast-growing mobile monetization, enterprise messaging and digital services in high growth segments. Comverse helps Communication Service Providers (CSPs) transition to Digital Service Providers (DSPs) and gain competitive advantage through a portfolio of solutions that help them monetize the coming “fourth wave” of digital services. The combined company’s expanded portfolio will extend into new digital application areas including data analytics, secure enterprise application-toperson (A2P) messaging, credit orchestration, two-factor authentication, and Machineto-Machine (M2M) communication as well as Rich Communication Services (RCS), WebRTC, and APIs for rapid service creation.

“Continued consolidation in the Service Provider space creates the need for strong suppliers,” said Philippe Tartavull, President and Chief Executive Officer, Comverse. “Our acquisition of Acision underscores Comverse’s commitment to quickly building scale and market leadership in the fast-growing digital services sector. This acquisition creates a formidable platform for innovation that is expected to serve our customers’ current and evolving needs. Acision brings a diverse portfolio of mobile monetization and rich enterprise messaging solutions complementing Comverse’s market leading digital services platform. The combined portfolio will allow us to enable our service provider and enterprise customers to deliver and monetize a new array of advanced digital services to their customers.”

“Today’s acquisition is in line with our growth strategy to broaden our reach and capabilities, and brings two leading companies together to deliver the very latest monetizable, rich communication services for mobile operators and enterprises worldwide,” said Didier Bench, Executive Chairman at Acision. “The two companies are well aligned in their respective visions and strategies, yet were operating in largely complementary markets. We believe that joining forces is in the best interests of both our customers and our employees, and our commitment to them and the products we provide will remain our highest priority. By combining our resources, we can provide our customers and partners with access to an extended portfolio of digital products and services, with high quality innovation as well as the best in class knowledge and expertise.”

Comverse Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSI)