LogMeIn To Acquire Jive Communications For £247m

LogMeIn is to acquire  Jive Communications in an effort to bolster the former’s presence in the unified communications and collaboration sector.

Under the terms of the deal, the remote connectivity specialist is to pay $342m (£247m)in cash for Jive, along with an additional $15m subject to the completion of specified milestones after the deal is closed.

Jive Communications (not to be confused with Jive Software, which was acquired by Aurea Software last year), offers cloud-based and enterprise-grade phone systems and other unified communications services including voice, video, contact centre, and mobile applications to 20,000 customers worldwide.

Jive Deal

LogMeIn made clear the deal will help it accelerate its overall Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) strategy, as well as bolster LogMeIn’s collaboration portfolio.

The deal is expected to close during the second quarter of 2018, subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, and there is no word yet on any potential redunancies.

That said, after the deal is closed John Pope, the CEO of Jive Communications, will continue to run the Jive Communications business, reporting directly to LogMeIn’s boss Bill Wagner.

“Jive’s success in UCaaS is a testament to its modern cloud-based platform, its deliberate focus on customer satisfaction, and its renowned culture of innovation,” said Wagner. “We believe the combination of Jive’s award-winning voice, video, contact center and mobile applications with our leading collaboration products, GoToMeeting and join.me, will give LogMeIn one of the best and most comprehensive UCC offerings in the market.”

“With market defining brands like GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar, LogMeIn is one of the most recognised and respected names in collaboration – a leader with the reach, scale and resources capable of fueling Jive’s next chapter of growth and customer-focused innovation,” said Jive’s Pope. “It’s a combination that immediately gives both parties the power to deliver significantly more value to our combined customer bases.”

Acquisition History

LogMeIn has established itself as a cloud connectivity specialist and is perhaps best known for its join.me, LastPass, LogMeIn Rescue and BoldChat products.

However, the firm is not afraid of making acquisitions to fuel growth.

In 2015 for example it acquired password and account management company LastPass for $110 million.

LastPass signature tool is a password management service that helps users create strong, secure passwords for websites. LogMeIn said it would combine LastPass’ offerings with that of Meldum, another security management company it had acquired in 2014.

And then in July 2016, cloud specialist Citrix merged its GoTo unit with LogMeIn, after Citrix had faced intense pressure from an internal investor, namely activist hedge fund Elliott Management.

Although that deal was technically described as a merger, it was clear that LogMeIn was in the driving seat, as CEO, Bill Wagner, remained in charge of the combined company.

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