A company owned by the Permira funds has agreed to acquire Alcatel-Lucent’s Genesys business for $1.5 billion in cash.
Genesys – which reported 2010 sales of approximately US$500 million – specializes in customer service software and contact center solutions for enterprises. The contemplated deal would include the transfer of the approximately 1,800 employees worldwide, the management team and the existing business structure to ensure seamless continuity with customers and other stakeholders.
Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, said: “We have now positively concluded our evaluation of strategic options for both our Enterprise and Genesys businesses. Permira’s intended acquisition of Genesys would enable this profitable business to flourish further; with Enterprise, we have reached the conclusion that retaining it and strengthening it further serves Alcatel-Lucent and our customers best. Our chosen direction is to leverage the natural connections that exist between enterprise and carrier customers, and proactively apply Enterprise’s strengths and momentum in unified communications and data networking with them.�?http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
