Avaya and RingCentral share prices soar on back of partnership

RingCentral will inject $500m into struggling unified comms provider

Avaya has seen its share price jump 29 per cent after it confirmed it has struck a deal with RingCentral, which will see a $500m (£405.8m) investment from the latter.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this calendar year - subject to regulatory approval - and will see RingCentral pump $500m into Avaya, including $125m of redeemable preferred equity which translates to a six per cent stake in Avaya.

The remaining $375m will be advanced primarily in stock for future payments and certain licensing rights.

Avaya will also buy back up to $500m of shares and pay down $250m of debt.

RingCentral's own share price jumped 25 per cent when word of the deal emerged.

As part of the venture, Avaya will introduce its global unified comms (UC) as-a-service offering, Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral. It will offer a full suite of UC, contact centre (CC), UCaaS and CCaaS solutions to customers in 180 countries.

"Avaya and RingCentral's joint investment and commitment to bringing Avaya Cloud Office to market creates an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the transition to the cloud with attractive economics for our customers and partners," said Jim Chirico, Avaya CEO.

"This also gives us the opportunity to unlock value from a largely unmonetised base of our business as it brings compelling value to our customers and partners.

"We believe this highly complementary partnership is a game-changer that expands the total addressable market for Avaya and creates meaningful value for both Avaya and RingCentral."

Avaya Cloud Office is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2020 and is a "definitive differentiated solution", according to Vlad Shmunis, founder and CEO of RingCentral.

"We are excited to bring RingCentral's leading UCaaS platform to Avaya's installed base of over 100 million users and over 4,700 partners, providing long-term growth opportunities for both our companies," he stated.

Reports emerged last month that the beleaguered Avaya was considering a joint venture with RingCentral, a publicly listed company that specialises in videoconferencing and cloud communications.

It had earlier been reported that it was considering a takeover bid from rival Mitel as part of its strategic review.

"The strategic actions that we are executing as a result of our comprehensive review create new growth opportunities, return capital to our shareholders and de-lever our balance sheet," said Chirico.

"With a clear path forward, we will further invest in technology and innovation to continue bringing state-of-the-art solutions to our valued customers and partners."

Avaya recently saw its UK MD depart to take up the role of CEO at Maintel, one of its largest partners in the UK.