NJ Companies Global Crossing, Avaya and Encelium in Acquisition News
On Wednesday, Level 3 Communications Inc. said it had completed its acquisition of Florham Park, N.J.-based Global Crossing Ltd in a deal structured as a tax-free, stock-for-stock exchange. The company said it would conduct its business on a worldwide basis, using the name Level 3 Communications.
The company is planning to transfer the listing of its common stock to the New York Stock Exchange and expects to begin trading under the new ticker symbol LVLT. In conjunction with its listing on the NYSE, the company will effect a 1-for-15 reverse stock split of Level 3 common stock. Corporate headquarters will remain in Level 3’s current location of Broomfield, Colo. Level 3 told Reuters that it expects that there will be hundreds of layoffs in the U.S. as a result of the merger.
In other company news, on Tuesday Basking Ridge-based Avaya said it had acquired Sipera Systems Inc. (Richardson, Texas), a worldwide provider of unified communications (UC) solutions. The company will become a fully integrated part of Avaya. Avaya said that Sipera strengthens Avaya’s UC portfolio of “fit-for-purpose, enterprise-class Session Border Control (SBC) capabilities for Session Initiation Protocol trunking.”
Alan Baratz, senior VP and president of Global Communications Solutions for Avaya, explained that the Sipera portfolio strongly aligns with the company’s Aura UC structure and will help customers simplify deployment, management and maintenance in multivendor environments.
Lighting manufacturer Osram AG (Munich, Germany), which is wholly owned by Siemens AG (Frankfurt, Germany), has signed an agreement with Maryland-based Townsend Ventures LLC to increase its stake in Encelium Technologiesfrom 15 percent to 100 percent, essentially acquiring Encelium. The Teaneck, N.J.-based software development company focuses on advanced lighting control and energy management systems for commercial and industrial buildings.
While no financial details of the transaction were disclosed, Encelium, which employs 70 people in the U.S. and Canada, will become part of the Osram organization. The acquisition enhances Osram’s position in LED lighting and energy management systems.
