NEW YORK and SANTA CRUZ,
Calif., Aug. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Plantronics, Inc. (NYSE: PLT) ("Poly" or the "Company"), a
global communications company that powers meaningful human
connection and collaboration, and Siris Capital Group, LLC
("Siris") today announced that Siris has sold approx. 4.1 million
of the 7.1 million shares of Poly common stock that it previously
owned, which represents ~57% of Siris' stake in Poly and ~10% of
Poly's outstanding shares.
The share sale represents an opportunity for Siris to realize
what it considers to be an attractive return on its original
investment in Polycom in 2016. Siris and Poly have had a successful
long-term relationship dating back to the Company's acquisition of
Polycom from Siris in 2018.
"With Dave Shull recently announced as CEO, we feel that Poly is
well positioned to capitalize on opportunities to be the endpoint
provider of choice for the unified communications industry," said
Frank Baker, Siris Co-Founder and
Managing Partner. "We have confidence in Poly, its management team,
and the opportunities ahead."
As a result of Siris reducing its holding and pursuant to the
contractual arrangement between Siris and the Company, Mr. Baker
has resigned from Poly's board of directors. However, Dan Moloney, a Siris Executive Partner, intends
to remain an active member on the Poly board of directors.
"Siris has been a constructive partner to Poly over the past two
years," said Bob Hagerty, Poly's
Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer. "We are
pleased that Dan will remain on our board."
About Poly
Plantronics, Inc. ("Poly" – formerly
Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT) is a global communications
company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration.
Poly combines legendary audio expertise and powerful video and
conferencing capabilities to overcome the distractions, complexity
and distance that make communication in and out of the workplace
challenging. Poly believes in solutions that make life easier when
they work together and with our partners' services. Our headsets,
software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, analytics and
services are used worldwide and are a leading choice for every kind
of workspace. For more information visit www.Poly.com.
Poly, the propeller design, and the Poly logo are trademarks of
Plantronics, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
About Siris
Siris is a leading private equity firm that invests primarily in
mature technology and telecommunications companies with
mission-critical products and services, facing industry changes or
other significant transitions. Siris' development of proprietary
research to identify opportunities and its extensive collaboration
with its Executive Partners are integral to its approach. Siris'
Executive Partners are experienced senior operating executives that
actively participate in key aspects of the transaction lifecycle to
help identify opportunities and drive strategic and operational
value. Siris is based in New York
and Silicon Valley and has raised nearly $6
billion in cumulative capital commitments.
www.siris.com
Forward Looking Statements Safe Harbor
This press
release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including
quotations of a director and statements relating to our intentions,
beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations
that are subject to many risks and uncertainties. Such
forward-looking statements and the associated risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) our beliefs with
respect to the length and severity of the COVID-19 (coronavirus)
outbreak, and its impact across our businesses, our operations and
global supply chain; (ii) our belief that we can manufacture or
supply products in a timely manner to satisfy perishable demand;
(iii) expectations related to our customers' purchasing decisions
and our ability to match product production to demand; (iv) risks
associated with significant and abrupt changes in product demand
which increases the complexity of management's evaluation of
potential excess or obsolete inventory; (v) risks associated with
the bankruptcy or financial weakness of distributors or key
customers, or the bankruptcy of or reduction in capacity of our key
suppliers; (vi) risks associated with the potential interruption in
the supply of sole-sourced critical components, our ability to move
to a dual-source model, and the continuity of component supply at
costs consistent with our plans; (vii) expectations related to our
services segment revenues; (viii) expectations that our current
cash on hand, additional cash generated from operations, together
with sources of cash through our credit facility, either alone or
in combination with our election to suspend our dividend payments,
will meet our liquidity needs during and following the unknown
duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; (ix) expectations
relating to our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from
operations to meet our debt covenants and timely repay all
principal and interest amounts drawn under our credit facility as
they become due; (x) risks associated with our channel partners'
sales reporting, product inventories and product sell through since
we sell a significant amount of products to channel partners who
maintain their own inventory of our products; (xi) our efforts to
execute to drive sales and sustainable profitable revenue growth;
(xii) our expectations for new products launches, the timing of
their releases and their expected impact on future growth and on
our existing products; (xiii) our belief that our new Partner
Program will drive growth and profitability for both us and our
partners through the sale of our product, services and solutions;
(xiv) risks associated with forecasting sales and procurement
demands, which are inherently difficult, particularly with
continuing uncertainty in regional and global economic conditions;
(xv) uncertainties attributable to currency fluctuations, including
fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and/or new or greater
tariffs on our products; (xvi) our expectations regarding our
ability to control costs, streamline operations and successfully
implement our various cost-reduction activities and realize
anticipated cost savings under such cost-reduction initiatives;
(xvii) our beliefs regarding the UC&C market, market dynamics
and opportunities, and customer and partner behavior as well as our
position in the market; (xviii) our belief that the increased
adoption of certain technologies and our open architecture approach
has and will continue to increase demand for our solutions; (xix)
expectations related to the micro and macro-economic conditions in
our domestic and international markets and their impact on our
future business; (xx) our forecast and estimates with respect to
tax matters; (xxi) our expectations related to building strategic
alliances and key partnerships with providers of collaboration
tools and platforms to drive revenue growth and market share; and
(xxii) our expectations regarding pending and potential future
litigation, in addition to other matters discussed in this press
release that are not purely historical data. Such forward-looking
statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and
are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements.
We do not assume any obligation to update or revise any such
forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new
developments or otherwise.
For more information concerning these and other possible risks,
please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on June
8, 2020, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on July
29, 2020, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, as well as recent press releases. Without
limitation, we cite risks related to sales and potential sales of
our shares by Siris.
INVESTOR CONTACT:
Mike
Iburg
Vice President, Investor Relations
(831) 458-7533
MEDIA CONTACT:
Edie
Kissko
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(213) 369-3719
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SOURCE Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” - formerly Plantronics and
Polycom)