UK hosted IP specialist HIPCOM has been sold to American UC software giant BroadSoft for an undisclosed sum.
In a press statement BroadSoft said the majority of Hipcom's employees will join its growing team focused on managing its cloud operations across Europe, but chairman Allan Murdoch confirmed that he has left the business with immediate effect.
Murdoch told Comms Dealer the BroadSoft offer came out of the blue and was too good to turn down: "Hipcom are the number one platform in the UK for hosted services and we have built something very special, but we were made an offer we could not refuse. BroadSoft is the perfect acquirer for us. When they approached us with an offer I thought it made perfect sense.
"This is good news for Hipcom resellers and good news for the whole UK reseller market. Our current resellers now effectively go up one tier in the distribution chain by receiving direct supply from BroadSoft. The Hipcom team will still be working with them going forward.
"Continuity was key to this acquisition. One of the things BroadSoft appreciated about Hipcom is the way we did things, the way we delivered the service and the support we give our partners."
Murdoch believes Hipcom's relationship with BT was also key to the acquisition deal.
"Hipcom has very successfully provided a service to BT and has helped them penetrate the hosted market faster than they would have been able to do themselves. I think BroadSoft see that as a particular model they can use in other European markets as it will help incumbent telcos in other countries get to market quickly."
He is also confident resellers will now have an enhanced go to market proposition under the BroadSoft brand: "Resellers will now be in a better position to address UC opportunities. This deal brings BroadSoft closer to the coal face in terms of the recognising some of the drivers the resellers are looking for."
HIPCOM currently provides innovative Unified Communications services based on BroadSoft's BroadWorks® software to a broad customer base.
Scott Hoffpauir, chief technology officer, BroadSoft commented: "We believe the global opportunity for our BroadCloud PBX capabilities is very significant and it was critical we find a team with extensive cloud technology and infrastructure management experience for our expanding U.K. and European operations.
"With the addition of HIPCOM and their experienced management team, we are confident we have the depth of knowledge in place to quickly take full advantage of our growth opportunities for BroadCloud PBX throughout Europe."
BroadSoft anticipates the acquisition will add approximately $500,000 in revenue to its estimated third quarter 2013 results and approximately $1.6 million in revenue to its estimated full year 2013 results. The acquisition is expected be non-dilutive to estimated third quarter 2013 and full year 2013 non-GAAP EPS.