US VoIP network operator Vonage will wind down its Brazilian joint venture operations in the consumer segment by the first quarter of 2015 “to focus on higher return opportunities”.
The company said it “expects to avoid material operating losses…
US VoIP network operator Vonage will wind down its Brazilian joint venture operations in the consumer segment by the first quarter of 2015 “to focus on higher return opportunities”.
The company said it “expects to avoid material operating losses in Brazil in 2015 and 2016 due to the significant planned incremental investment that would be required to scale the business”.
As part of its strategic review, Vonage also approved a four-year US$100m share buyback plan, due to start in 2015, which will be funded with available cash balances.
Its third initiative is the completion of its previously-announced acquisition of Telesphere Networks, a US-based provider of unified communications-as-a-service (UcaaS) solutions to larger enterprises in the small and medium business (SMB) sector.
“The Telesphere acquisition represents a critical step in our growth within the UCaaS market, and enables Vonage to gain critical mass within the SMB segment and address the needs of a wider range of enterprises,” Vonage’s recently-appointed CEO Alan Masarek said.
Masarek joined the cloud-based communications services provider in early November, having previously served as Google’s director of web browser Chrome.
New York-listed Vonage has roughly 2.4 million customers. In August, the company secured a US$225m four-year credit facility to fund acquisitions.
