Gores Grabs More Video-Conferencing Assets

Fresh from its January acquisition
of Forgent’s video-conferencing unit, buyout and turnaround specialist
Gores Technology Group (GTG) has set its sights on Video Solutions
Business, the video-conferencing equipment division of Wire One
Technologies.

GTG said it has sealed a definitive agreement to buy the assets of Video
Solutions Business for about $22 million in cash and $1 million to $4
million in stock.

“Wire One’s Video Solutions Business will complement our prior acquisition
in the video-conferencing equipment space,” said Vance Diggins, CEO of GTG.
“We are looking forward to significant growth in this business by
leveraging our strong balance sheet and future investments in this
industry.”

Under the deal, GTG will pick up Wire One’s video-conferencing equipment
distribution, system design and engineering, installation, operation and
maintenance activities. The acquisition also comes with Video Solutions’
headquarters and warehouse facility in Miamisburg, Ohio, a help desk
operation in Camarillo, Calif., a client list of about 3,000 active
customers with an installed base of about 22,000 video-conferencing
systems, inventory, contracts and work in progress.

Wire One plans to hold onto and focus its efforts on its Glowpoint video
service, an IP-based subscriber network dedicated to video communications.
The service, launched in 2000, carries video calls within the United States
and to Europe on a network provisioned through a variety of solutions, from
DSL to T1, ATM and Optical Ethernet. Diggins said GTG will continue to
market the service to its video conferencing customers.

GTG said Leo Flotron, Wire One’s president and chief operating officer, and
the executive in charge of the Video Solutions Business, is expected to
continue with the business following the closing of the deal. GTG said it
expects the deal to close in the third quarter. Wire One’s board has
already unanimously approved the deal, though it is still subject to
stockholder approval.

Since its founding in 1987, privately-held GTG, based in Los Angeles, has
bought and managed more than 40 hardware, software and IT services firms.
Recent acquisitions include Aprisma Management Technologies, a maker of
software to monitor corporate network performance, and Portera, a developer
of government contracting applications.