BICS, a global provider of international wholesale connectivity and interoperability services, has agreed to acquire privately held TeleSign Corporation, a US company active in the provision of authentication and mobile identity services to internet and digital service providers, for $230 million.

Combining BICS’ global network and reach to mobile operators with TeleSign’s cloud communications platform and mobile identity and authentication solutions, is said by the company to create the first global end-to-end Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS).

The acquisition creates the world’s first end-to-end CPaaS provider, bridging the market leading TeleSign cloud communications platform with one of the largest global carriers in the world.

“We’ve been in the driver’s seat of our industry’s transformation, and we’ve built a solid business of over €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) in yearly turnover, with the ambition of bridging the telecom world with the new and innovative communications providers worldwide,” said Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS.

“By combining the power of TeleSign’s advanced cloud communication platform and customer base with BICS’ market-leading footprint and global reach, we are well positioned to lead the development of one of technology’s most exciting sectors.”

Today, companies of all sizes and sectors are embracing cloud communications to create innovative new services and transform how they communicate with their customers. As enterprises move to offer the latest and most secure services, harnessing the power of the cloud has become critical to every organisation’s digital transformation.

In fact, IDC forecasts the worldwide voice and text messaging communications platform-as-a-service market to grow from $867 million in 2016 to $8.2 billion in 2021.

Communications-Platform-as-a-Service allows developers and product owners to easily add real-time communications features into their applications and services without having to build backend infrastructure and interfaces.

With today’s acquisition, businesses now have a single destination for the world’s first end-to-end CPaaS provider, offering an unparalleled global network and the most reliable and trusted communications platform available.

“TeleSign has a strong business with annual revenues of around $100 million built on security and on a pedigree of innovation, with a strong portfolio of global customers,” said TeleSign’s CEO Aled Miles.

“Combining our technology with BICS’ global carrier footprint, mobile operator reach and strong experience, puts us in a class by ourselves. Being the industry’s first end-to-end CPaaS means we can offer an unmatched level of business communications as we help organisations grow, engage and secure their end-users anywhere in the world.”

TeleSign will continue to operate independently as a wholly-owned subsidiary of BICS with the brand name TeleSign, under the continued leadership of CEO Aled Miles. Daniel Kurgan, CEO of BICS, will become the chairman of TeleSign.

This strategic acquisition will enable BICS to expand from a global carrier to an international digital enabler, and accelerate its strategy to diversify in terms of customers, solutions and geographies, acquiring expertise in mobile identity, account security and cloud communication solutions.

This will also enhance BICS’ geographical scope in the Americas and enlarge its customer base towards world-top internet brands to which BICS will sell its messaging, voice and Internet of Things solutions.

Transaction terms and financing

BICS will pay an upfront cash consideration of $230 million (on a cash and debt free basis) as well as a variable performance-based earn-out consideration.

Closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory conditions which are expected to be fulfilled in the third quarter of 2017.“This is an important step in the further development of both BICS and TeleSign, and we are confident in the common and strong future of our organisations.

We are looking forward to finalising the acquisition and officially welcoming TeleSign to the BICS family.

We have both the ambition and the opportunity to build together a stronger organisation and further advance the CPaaS market,” added Daniel Kurgan, BICS’ CEO.

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