HP has announced the completion of its blockbuster acquisition of peripheral and videoconferencing giant Poly, a move that HP hopes will shore up more hybrid work business as employers look for more at-home solutions.
Poly makes a range of conferencing products, such as headsets, speakerphones, videoconferencing devices and software.
“This is a historic day for our business as we mark the union of two iconic companies that are innovating at the heart of hybrid work,” HP CEO Enrique Lores said.
“Poly brings incredibly strong talent, differentiated technology and a complementary go-to-market system that we believe will further strengthen our position in large and growing markets.
Together, we will have vast opportunities to innovate for customers and grow our business as we continue building a stronger HP,” Lores said,.
According to an HP survey in the United States, 75 per cent of office workers are investing to improve their home setups, and traditional offices are also being planned with hybrid work and collaboration in mind.
There are currently more than 90 million office rooms and less than 10 per cent have video capability.
That leaves a huge market open as the office meeting room solutions segment is expected to triple by 2024.
“As ideas around the role of the traditional office continue to shift, there is a critical need for organisations to enable rich collaboration experiences between in-person and remote workers,” Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said.
“Combining Poly and HP is a win-win for both organizations.
More importantly, uniting these two companies will provide end users with the essential hardware software and services to successfully navigate hybrid work experiences now and into the future,” he added.
“I am totally convinced, and we are totally convinced at HP, that hybrid work is here to say,” Lores said during a recent presentation.
“I don’t know any company that has decided or convinced their employees that they need to be back in the office five days per week, every week of the month.
People are going to continue to work from both the home and from the office and this is a tremendous opportunity for us,” Lores added.
While Poly chief executive Dave Schull will lead the Workforce Services and Solutions business, Andy Rhodes, who previously led HP’s Personal Systems business, will run the combined HP-Poly business as general manager, Hybrid Work Solutions and Peripherals.
Rhodes will report to HP Personal Systems President Alex Cho.
HP completed the Poly deal as an all-cash transaction of US$40 per share, implying a total enterprise value of US$3.3 billion, including Poly’s debt.
The transaction was financed through a combination of balance sheet cash and new debt.
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