Has turned into a classic "boy who cried wolf" scenario ... we keep hearing "official bid announcement from Extreme coming this week". Then, when that doesn't happen, we hear "well, the lawyers hit another snag, so maybe we'll hear something next week".
Sigh ... can only be so patient for so long ...
Heard people saying, this week, intent may be out that Extreme wants to acquire Networking division.
Feb. isn't even 1/2 over yet ... still time for the bid to land, if there is any truth to the rumors, that is.
Oh well that didn't happen....
Well, the current chatter is that the deal is all but finalized now. The "official" bid should be arriving before the end of Feb, giving Extreme "stalking horse" status. Then, competitor's bids can be considered. As others pointed out, 100M appears to be the "starting price". Separating Pod Fx was one of the last details to work through prior to the offer being made.
Interesting comment from Phil Edholm recently, he speculated that networking would only sell for half its yearly revenue as it has been losing money at that sales level. That means about 100-150M dollars and doesnt help debt repayment. Brocade is more valueable and is still for sale, not sure who would settle for Avaya networking when they could have Brocade for a little more money (which included Ruckess Wireless).
any other guesses on what Networking is worth
Just take a minute and THINK about this. The overlap between Extreme and Avaya is obvious. Avaya has some technology and customers that Extreme doesn't have, but they certainly don't need many of the Avaya people as the core functions are already being covered. So the people in marketing, operations, etc. will not be brought over except possibly to assist in transition. They're essentially taking on a new product line, so they'll need some of the product team, though not many. They'll also need some of the sales/SE team since they own the customer relationships. Some support staff will be integrated into Extreme. Of course Extreme will see this as an opportunity to topgrade their team by selecting the best from Avaya and Extreme and letting the rest go. When things like this happen, they essentially put everyone from both organizations in a pool and select those people who they believe can best take the company forward. Everyone else is out. It's going to get REALLY ugly. That said, it's also very likely that there will be new bidders entering the process, as the original asking price is not a factor. It could just as easily be a totally new company that eventually buys Avaya. If it's not a competitor like Extreme - Fortinet, for example - it would be a different scenario since they're wouldn't be as much overlap. If you're an adrenaline junkie, hang on for a wild ride, otherwise get out now while you are still employed.
Extreme is one of 3 companies originally interested in bidding on Networking when the auction opened last year. The others have since dropped out. Extreme is the stalking-horse bidder. The auction closes in April. No official offers have accepted. Those are the facts to-date. Unless it's part of a public SEC filing, everything else is based on speculation or hearsay. Anyone directly involved had to sign an NDA, so unless they leak information and violate terms of the NDA, confirmation is unlikely until the deal is finalized.
Is there any truth behind these stories? Who can confirm? These are just lies ...AVAYA Networking is not going any where..UC & CC & Cheap IPO are going to be sold.
I seriously doubt Extreme would only take the IP and not some people as well ... obviously it could happen like that, but they would at least need a small percentage of support staff initially, until their team absorbs the technology anyhow. If you examine both company's portfolios, there is a lot of product overlap .. not 100%, but close. So, 100% retention is unlikely. And, for those who do stay on-board, it's unlikely there will be a 1-1 salary match when they move over to Extreme.
My guess - Extreme will retain the current overseas contractors, plus 20-30% of the 'local' engineering staff. JMHO. YMMV.
networking guys getting canned?
If this is true...Seems like they would keep a lot of folks during transition. This is good news for the rest of Avaya....?
Sold to extreme, no patent hold ups any longer. Extreme only interested in the business, will not be taking any of the people. All set to be laid off unfortunately....In Marc we trust i believe was there motto, look how well that worked out.....
Seems like the deal has stalled for the moment. It's in the hands of the lawyers now, and there appears to be a dispute over patent rights. Extreme Networks (or any other potential suitor) has until April to close the deal. In the meantime, we wait. The silence from above is deafening.
Hindsight is always 20-20 :
http://www.nojitter.com/post/225400382/avayanortel-merger-why-its-likely-to-fail
Let's hope, if the Extreme Networks acquisition of Networking does finalize over the next few weeks, history does not repeat itself.
what happens to the network sales reps?
There are not a whole lots of networking guys left in Avaya North America. Avaya has laid off the last few switch designers in the last year or so. The development has been outsourced to India/Romania many years ago. What's left are a few slaving support folks to do firefighting and handholding the 1st level support teams in India.
Seems this is correct - networking is being sold - not sure who the buyer is but internally i am starting to see some changes which indicate that the switching portion of networking is on the way out
Would be sad to see Networking go. Hope its just a rumour.
Extreme announced earnings AH yesterday, but no mention of potential bid or acquisition. They have a recent history of cuts and layoffs as well ... not great, better than Ch11 tho. More of a life boat than solid ground I guess.
I have heard same about Extreme. Could be what WW Sales Org All-Hands call is about this morning.
If this is true we all network team employee will be safe.
i think its going to TP-LINK
more info? do all the networking guys go to Extreme?