Alianza, Inc. has extended the capabilities of its full-stack cloud communications platform for service providers with the close of its previously announced acquisition of CounterPath Corp. CounterPath offers softphone, cloud meeting, and mobile unified communications as a service (UCaaS) products that significantly extend the range of cloud-based communications capabilities Alianza can offer service providers, including cable MSOs. In announcing the deal last December, CounterPath stated that Alianza would pay $3.49 per share, which implies an approximate market value of $25.7 million.
The two companies had been partners for the last few years, according to Alianza Founder and CEO Brian Beutler, which means integration of the two companies’ product lines has essentially already been accomplished. CounterPath’s Bria softphone and UCaaS capabilities complement Alianza’s primarily voice-centric offerings (see, for example, "Horizon Telcom picks Alianza to deliver business cloud communications"); Beutler teased an announcement coming up later this month that will describe synergistic capabilities that the combined companies will be able to offer. Besides the potential for upselling to existing customers, Beutler noted that CounterPath’s international product mix also offers growth opportunities beyond Alianza’s traditional North American focus.
Beutler sees the acquisition as well timed, given the competitive pressures he says service providers face in keeping their offerings current and competitive in the face of a growing array of independent, cloud-based, over-the-top providers of communications services. He points to a wide variety of companies that offer cloud-based contact center, unified communications, voice, messaging, collaboration, communications platform as a service (CPaas), and related services individually or, to a lesser degree, in low-number combinations. The acquisition, alongside the company's earlier purchase of business text-messaging provider Message Hopper (see "Alianza acquires Message Hopper"), enables Alianza to offer most of these capabilities via a single platform, with contact center and perhaps CPaaS the potential exceptions. The revenue growth potential, flexibility, and low cost of service deployment will make the “aaS” option increasingly appealing – and perhaps necessary – for traditional service providers, Beutler believes.
"Alianza's acquisition of CounterPath reflects the growing importance of video meetings and team messaging to the enterprise communications and collaboration landscape," commented Irwin Lazar, president and principal analyst at Metrigy, via an Alianza press release. "Today, more than 60% of companies are now bundling those features into their calling licenses to better support remote work and customer engagement. Alianza's broad offering enables service providers to bundle additional value-add capabilities with their existing network and telephony offerings."
Alianza plans to retain CounterPath’s presence in Vancouver, BC, according to Beutler. CounterPath Chief Revenue Officer Todd Carothers will join the Alianza leadership team.