Logitech Snaps Up LifeSize Communications For $405 Million

The deal further consolidates the landscape of standalone videoconferencing vendors, and comes on the heels of Cisco's planned acquisition of Tandberg, which was announced in October.

"We expect this acquisition to enable Logitech to extend our leadership in video communication beyond the desktop," said Gerald P. Quindlen, Logitech president and CEO, in a statement. "Together we can make lifelike, HD-quality video communication as mainstream and seamless as a telephone, for meeting participants in the boardroom, at their office desk, in a remote-location meeting room, telecommuting from home or on the go with a laptop."

According to the companies, Austin, Texas-based LifeSize will operate as a separate division of Logitech. LifeSize co-founder and CEO Craig Malloy will remain its chief executive, reporting directly to Quindlen.

Logitech and LifeSize expect the acquisition to close in December pending financial and regulatory approval. According to LifeSize, it is projecting to close out calendar year 2009 with $90 million in revenue.

"LifeSize was founded on the vision of providing lifelike visual-communication solutions to change the way the world communicates," Malloy said in a statement. "We believe that together with Logitech, we can realize that vision for all enterprises -- private and public -- and small and medium businesses. Our combined proven innovation can accelerate mainstream adoption of video communication by anyone, anywhere."

Logitech's planned acquisition of LifeSize and Cisco's planned acquisition of Tandberg -- the latter currently being challenged by a group of Tandberg shareholders -- effectively leave Polycom as the last of the major videoconferencing players.

Polycom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Channelweb.com.

In an interview in October following the Cisco-Tandberg news, LifeSize director of product management Michael Helmbrecht told Channelweb.com that LifeSize had garnered a lot of interest from Tandberg solution providers concerned about the Cisco deal.

Neither LifeSize nor Logitech had immediate word on how the move will change each company's channel program, if at all.

Quindlen and Malloy are scheduled to discuss the acquisition in a joint Webcast at 9 a.m. EST on Wednesday.