GoAmerica, Inc. to buy Verizon’s TRS division
Shares of GoAmerica, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOAM) are trading higher today after the telecommunications services provider for people who are deaf or hard of hearing said it will acquire the assets of Verizon's Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) division.
The Hackensack, NJ.-based company will pay $50 million in cash and up to an additional $8 million in contingent cash consideration for Verizon’s assets. GoAmerica said it would finance the acquisition through the issuance of $65 million of new preferred stock and debt to Clearlake Capital Group.
“This transaction accelerates GoAmerica's strategy to expand its presence in the relay market, while giving the company a financially sound platform for growth,” said Dan Luis, CEO of GoAmerica.
Verizon’s TRS division includes nationwide IP-based forms of text and video relay services as well as contracts to provide text-telephone based relay services in California, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. According to GoAmerica, the TRS business unit generated approximately $67 million in revenue in 2006, 93% of which was derived from IP-based services.
Last year GoAmerica generated $0.13 million in total revenue.
Telecommunications relay services (TRS) enables someone with a hearing or speech disability to communicate with the rest of the world by telephone through a communications assistant at a relay center.
Shares of GoAmerica gained 11.9%, or $0.62, to $5.82 in late day trading Friday.
