Alcatel-Lucent has a binding offer to sell it Genesys business for $1.5 billion in cash to a company owned by Permira, a European private equity firm.
Genesys provides customer service software and contact center solutions for businesses. The California-based company also trains enterprises on how to use social media to engage customers. It employs 1,800 people, and last year reported sales of $500 million.
“We have now positively concluded our evaluation of strategic options for both our Enterprise and Genesys businesses,” said Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen. “Permira’s intended acquisition of Genesys would enable this profitable business to flourish further; with Enterprise, we have reached the conclusion that retaining it and strengthening it further serves Alcatel-Lucent and our customers best.” The company said that Alcatel-Lucent would maintain access to the Genesys product portfolio, and vice versa.
Permira advises pension funds and other institutional investors representing roughly $30 billion in committed capital. During the past 26 years, Permira’s funds have made almost 200 private equity investments.
