IPass to acquire GoRemote
By John Cox, NetworkWorld.com, 12/12/05
In a bid to extend its services to branch office workers and enterprise teleworkers, iPass announced this week plans to acquire GoRemote Internet Communications.
The idea behind the buyout will be to create a package of authentication, reporting, management, and device administration services for a diverse enterprise workforce: employees who are on the road constantly, such as sales people or field service technicians, and remote employees scattered through numerous branch offices or working from home.
Both companies offer an array of managed services for enterprise workers outside of a headquarters building. iPass has focused on creating secure connectivity, over any network interface, to the enterprise. GoRemote has made its mark with somewhat similar services, but mainly targeted at branch offices and employees working from home, says Ken Denman, CEO of iPass in Redwood Shores, Calif.
The deal, valued at $76.5 million, is a cash offer of $1.71 per share of GoRemote stock. The combined company will have annual revenues of over $200 million, Denman says. The transaction should be final by March 2006, pending approval by GoRemote shareholders and the relevant regulatory agencies.
This is the third acquisition for iPass in the past year. Previously, the company bought Safe3w, which made software for device authentication, and Mobile Automation, which specialized in mobile device management. The two deals were part of a plan to enhance the iPass client application to monitor, manage, and report on hundreds or thousands of mobile devices that an enterprise might have deployed outside the headquarters network.
Denman says GoRemote's Milpitas, Calif. headquarters operations will be moved about 25 miles to the main iPass facility, and some number of duplicate positions will be cut. He says he expects the merger to yield a range of savings by eliminating those positions and merging various administrative functions.
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