VOIP poster-child Vonage has chosen the investment banks to take it public, sources familiar with the situation say, but some of the bankers involved believe an acquisition might be a better long-term strategy for the N.J. company. (See Sources: Vonage Is Eyeing the Exits).
After a six-month bake-off, Vonage has chosen Citibank, UBS AG, and Deutsche Bank AG to lead the IPO, which will happen in five to six months, the sources say.
Sources say the banks will make the usual preparations for issuing stock, while privately holding conversations with potential acquirers.
Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz says her company can't comment on the matter.
Vonage, being perhaps the first serious residential VOIP play, is now four years old and has amassed over a million subscribers, as the company recently announced. (See Vonage Exceeds One Mil .) But this has come at significant cost: Vonage has taken a total of $408 million in venture capital to date, including a $200 million infusion in May. (See Vonage Raises $200M.)
And the cost-per-subscriber metric isn't likely to improve post-IPO. Sources say the investment bankers are concerned about the stability of Vonage's future stock price in an increasingly competitive residential VOIP market.
Analysts believe that competition from well-moneyed telephone and cable companies will eventually stunt Vonage's subscriber growth. These companies, which typically own their broadband infrastructure, aim to offer PSTN-connected VOIP service comparable to Vonage's, and bundle it with other broadband services like video and data. That, Vonage cannot do. (See Citron: Triple Play Is Tripe.)
As an alternative, some analysts believe a Vonage sale in the near future could bring as much as $1.5 billion from the right buyer.
That "right buyer" might be an operator that owns some or all of its broadband infrastructure and that can bundle Vonage service with other broadband services. Alone, Vonage is a VOIP pure-play that relies on its subscribers to "bring their own" broadband access.
I would have to disagree completely with you. I am a Vonage customer and gladly pay for the service. It costs less than 1/2 of what Verizon charged me and the service is actually better and has far more features. Morever, I recently moved my household and all I had to do was plug in the Linksys at the new house into my (Comcast broadband) router and my phone was working again. All billing is done via the Internet and electronically so Vonage doesn't care where I live. All I had to do was update my 911 info via the web.
BUNDLING = B.S. The new house had a Comcast Broadband phone (mounted outside, just like a Verizon box) and the de-installers had to spend an hour removing the equipment. Moreover, Comcast's "bundled" phone service costs MUCH MORE than Vonage. All I want from Comcast is a pipe, thank you. I don't use their TV services and never will -- I await IPTV.
I think the Vonage model is completely viable. Verizon and the other carriers must be sweating bricks because one thing is for sure, they don't stand a chance against VOIP. If consumers want to remain in CONTROL of their providers they should not believe in "free" service -- TANSTAFL.
I also use Skype by the way, and I like it, but who knows what Ebay will transmogrify it into. I anticipate wiping it from my disk drive soon...
No it is not too cynical. Voice is a FEATURE not a PRODUCT. No future exists for voice-only as everyone else is about to give it away in order to entice you to do something else. The portals move into the space proves this. Vontage has the wrong model and cannot compete even with bundles, much less with voice as a total freeby to get more eyeballs.
Is it too cynical to believe that the central reason for the planned Vonage IPO and the selection of bankers and all that stuff is simply to drum up hype and advertise Vonage to potential buyers?
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