Gillian Tan, Columnist

Polycom Payoff Is in the Long Game

Its planned merger with Mitel Networks, encouraged by Elliott Management, is better for investors than a private equity firm's rival offer.

June 8, 2016 at 6:57 PM UTC

By Gillian Tan

Gillian Tan is a senior reporter covering finance and alternative asset classes including real estate, infrastructure, private equity, private credit, venture capital and sports business. She previously wrote an opinion column for Bloomberg and was a reporter at the Wall Street Journal. She is a qualified chartered accountant.

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The battle for teleconferencing-services provider Polycom is heating up, but shareholders should keep their cool.

Polycom on Wednesday received an all-cash offer from a private equity firm (which Bloomberg News has identified as Siris Capital) valuing it at $12.25 a share. While the San Jose-based company's board considers how to respond, it continues to recommend a merger with Mitel Networks -- a logical deal that was prompted by activist investor Elliott Management. (Elliott hasn't weighed in on the latest offer either, but as a holder of both Polycom and Mitel shares and a believer in industry consolidation, it would presumably still back the Mitel proposal).