Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Pannaway to buy access unit of TelStrat

Pannaway Technologies Inc., a maker of converged Internet protocol broadband access platforms for telecommunications companies, has agreed to acquire the access division of Texas-based TelStrat International Inc.

The deal includes both cash and stock, and is expected to close by the end of August, according to a company statement. Both companies are privately held, and specific financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal includes TelStrat's Inteleflex broadband loop carrier platform, designed to help service providers bridge the gap between circuit-switched and packet-based networks for converged voice, video and data communication services.

According to previous announcements from TelStrat, the company has shipped more than 10,000 Inteleflex units. As a result of the acquisition, Portsmouth, N.H.-based Pannaway would expand its number of telecommunications customers to more than 300.

As part of the transaction, Bob Carroll, founder and CEO of TelStrat, would join the board of Pannaway. Sid Schmid, formerly general manager of TelStrat's telecommunications division, would become an executive vice president at Pannaway and lead the integration efforts.

Once the deal is completed, TelStrat would now focus its efforts on its existing enterprise division and its CallParrot business call recording product line.

Founded in 2002, Pannaway has raised more than $66 million in private funding from a syndicate of more than 30 individual investors, including Cabletron Systems Inc. founders Robert Levine and former New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson, as well as Allen Bildner, a board member of the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network LLC (YES Network).