Genesys to Acquire SoundBite Communications

Genesys, a provider of customer engagement and contact center solutions, will acquire SoundBite Communications, a provider of cloud-based proactive collections, payments, and mobile marketing applications, as well as proactive customer service solutions to enterprises, in a stock deal worth $100.4 million.

The proposed acquisition will strengthen Genesys' portfolio of cloud solutions for marketing, sales, and collections departments, building on its recent acquisition of Angel for self-service and contact center solutions. It is expected to contribute approximately $50 million in cloud-based revenue to Genesys, bringing the total to more than $135 million for Genesys' growing cloud business. The acquisition also adds approximately 450 new customers to Genesys' existing base of 800 cloud customers.

The deal also complements Genesys' cloud-based customer engagement solutions with additional mobile capabilities, including self-service text messaging, and mobile marketing capabilities, including mobile coupons, in-store marketing, mobile Web sites, and on-package QR codes.

"Cloud solutions that quickly solve business challenges are in high demand, and offering these solutions is core to our mission," said Paul Segre, president and CEO of Genesys, in a statement.  "The acquisition of SoundBite will expand our portfolio to help our customers meet these challenges, and continues our rapid expansion into cloud solutions in both new and existing markets."

David Rennyson, executive vice president and general manager of Genesys' Cloud Business Unit (who previously served as president of Angel), says SoundBite is an excellent fit for the company.  "The SoundBite product offering would enhance and extend our current portfolio of cloud solutions,” he says.

“With this acquisition we would also expand our reach across the enterprise to new areas like marketing, collections, and payments, as well as expanding the geographic footprint of our cloud business in key territories, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and South Africa,” Rennyson adds.

"This transaction...presents SoundBite with an exciting new endeavor that makes tremendous sense for the market," said Jim Milton, president and CEO of SoundBite, in a statement. "We believe existing SoundBite customers will value the benefits of being part of the global Genesys community made up of the world's leading innovators in customer experience."

This is Genesys' fourth acquisition since the company was sold by Alcatel-Lucent in late 2011 to Permira, a venture capital firm, for $1.5 billion.  Others included Angel, which Genesys acquired in late February for $110 million; Utopy, a provider of workforce optimization solutions, including speech and text analytics and voice of the customer applications, in January for an undisclosed amount; and LM Sistemas, a Brazilian provider of customer self-service solutions, in July 2012 for an undisclosed amount.