A company that specializes in VoIP and videoconferencing technology should soon become a part of Google. The search giant announced this morning that it is making an offer to buy Global IP Solutions for $68.2 million in cash.
Global IP Solutions is a rather big deal in its niche. Headquartered in San Francisco, it has offices in Boston, Hong Kong, and Stockholm, and its customers include internationally recognized corporations like AOL, Baidu, Brasil Telecom, Mail.ru, Samsung, and Yahoo.
Google’s acquisition of Global IP Solutions could have some significant ramifications for Google Voice and the future of voice and video over IP, then. Emerick Woods, the CEO of Global IP Solutions, mentioned in a statement that the two companies have "a shared vision to transform and accelerate IP communications," and said that his organization will "continue to enhance and extend our products and technology at Google."
There appears to be just one small hurdle standing in the way of the deal: Global IP Solutions is a publicly-traded firm, and Google needs the holders of at least 90 percent of its share capital to approve the transaction.
Neither side expects that to be a problem, though (Google’s bid represents a premium of 27.5 percent over the closing share price on Friday, May 14th), and it doesn’t look like antitrust authorities will get involved.
Expect the acquisition to go through before August 31st as a result (Google’s offer will lapse at that point), and don’t be surprised if Google makes some big strides in terms of real-time audio and video communication soon after.