IMImobile PLC (LON:IMO) has agreed to a US$730mln takeover by IT giant Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO).
The London-based cloud communications software specialist’s board has recommended the 595p-per-share cash offer, which compares to a previous close at 402.5p.
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IMImobile, which provides software and services to businesses to connect with customers through interactive channels including social, messaging and voice, was included as a supplier on the UK government’s ‘G-Cloud 12’ framework in October, sending its shares to what had then been an all-time high of 450p.
Shares in IMImobile rose 45% to 592.05p in early trading on Monday.
Cisco said its rationale for the deal is that in a world of increasing customer expectations, where businesses also compete on the quality of the interactive experience they can offer to their customers, it has a “vision” of creating “a comprehensive customer experience as a service (CXaaS) offer for customers, offering a platform to provide consistently enjoyable customer experiences”.
In order to help businesses understand, analyse and optimise ‘customer journeys’, Cisco is looking to perfect an automated ‘experience management solution’ to analyst customer sentiment, also using natural language capabilities and artificial intelligence to power customer interactions.
Fitting into this process, it said IMImobile offers software and services that allow companies to “stay constantly connected to their customers and which will allow Cisco to progress its vision of offering a comprehensive CXaaS offering”.
