PGi Buys ACT Conferencing

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting mergers in Q2 2013.**

Conferencing provider PGi is buying ACT Conferencing via a cash deal worth about $44 million.

Both companies are active in the channel and it looks like little will change for partners.

“At the moment. all programs associated with the ACT Partner Channel will remain intact,” a PGi spokeswoman told Channel Partners on Thursday. “As we learn more and blend the two companies, the Ascent program will absolutely be an area of focus.”

ACT debuted the brand-new Ascent partner program for VARs and integrators in August. 

PGi and ACT executives heralded the combination as mutually beneficial.

“Our companies share a complementary global footprint and a common legacy of industry leadership that spans decades,” Boland T. Jones, PGi founder, chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Peter Salas, chairman and CEO of ACT, agreed, saying the providers share similar corporate cultures. Culture proves a critical consideration in M&A; if merging firms don’t share compatible philosophies, then sometimes-insurmountable integration and operations problems occur (think HP-Compaq).

In terms of financials, PGi said it will provide a revised outlook for 2013 when it releases its third-quarter earnings. The company noted that ACT comes with a current projected annual revenue run-rate of about $45 million.