Polycom Acquires Accord Networks For $339 Million

Silicon Valley-based Polycom (www.polycom.com) announced it was acquiring Accord Networks for $339 million in stock.

Accord Networks (www.accordnetworks.com) is a voice and video infrastructure company based in Atlanta.

"The integration of Accord's next generation network infrastructureproducts with Polycom's network access and voice and video products,positions Polycom as a leading end-to-end voice and video solutionscompany," said Bob Hagerty, president and CEO of Polycom.

The ultimate goal, says Polycom, is to "make video calls as easy and reliable as phone calls".

Under the terms of the agreement, 6.26 million shares of Polycom common stock will be exchanged for all outstanding shares of Accord and 1.51 million shares will be used in exchange for the outstanding options and warrants for Accord.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter 2001.