RIL to buy telecom solutions co Radisys as part of Jio’s 5G and IoT strategy

Reliance Industries (RIL), India’s largest private sector company promoted by Mukesh Ambani, is set to acquire Radisys Corporation, a global provider of open telecom solutions for $1.72 per share in cash.
Jio for VoLTE service
The acquisition is expected to boost the mobile network roll out of Reliance Jio, the largest 4G operator in India that shook up the Indian telecom market with free voice offers in Sept 2016.

Akash Ambani, director of Reliance Jio, said: “This acquisition further accelerates Jio’s global innovation and technology leadership in the areas of 5G, IOT and open source architecture adoption.”

Radisys, headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, has nearly 600 employees with an engineering team based out of Bangalore, India, and sales and support offices globally. Radisys works with mobile service providers and telecom equipment vendors by providing open-centric software, hardware and service capabilities.

Radisys reported revenue of $26.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 compared to $32.3 million in the prior quarter and $37.6 million in the first quarter of 2017.

Radisys said its gross margin in the first quarter of 2018 was 26.6 percent against 4.2 percent in the prior quarter and 21.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017.

Radisys generated revenue of $11.1 million from Software-Systems and $15 million from Hardware Solutions. The company said its Q2 2018 revenue is expected to be between $20 and $22 million.

Brian Bronson, CEO of Radisys said, “The Radisys team will continue to work independently on driving its future growth, innovation and expansion.”

Covington & Burling is acting as legal advisor and Ernst & Young provided diligence and tax advisory services to RIL.

Raymond James & Associates is acting as financial advisor and Baker & McKenzie is acting as legal advisor to Radisys.