Broadband specialist Teligent Tuesday evening grabbed a teleconferencing service provider
with next generation online audio and video capabilities for $74 million in
stock and cash.
Teligent, once the source of merger rumors with the down-and-out ICG
Communications, bought Executive Conference Inc. with an undisclosed
additional earnout payment based on ECI’s future performance.
Teligent will quickly be able to expand its menu of online communications
services, including real-time information sharing, with the purchase.
ECI attracted notice in the industry following four years of strong revenue
growth — 35 percent annually with profit margins consistently exceeding 25
percent.
The company’s 180 employees, which will be folded into Teligent, serve more
than 5,000 customers nationwide, including many Fortune 1,000 customers. ECI
co-founder Graham Sampson will become a Teligent vice president.
International Data Corporation (IDC) projects the global market for
multimedia two-way Web-based communications services to reach $19.2 billion
by 2003 — up from just $2.1 billion in 1999.