Carlyle Group Buys Syniverse for $2.6 Billion, Second Telecom Deal in Days

Private equity giant Carlyle Group acquired mobile service provider Syniverse Technologies (SVR) in a $2.6 billion deal late Thursday, its second telecommunications buyout this week. Carlyle acquired communications infrastructure firm CommScope (CTV) for $3.9 billion on Wednesday.

Syniverse announced that the all cash deal, which would pay $31 for each outstanding share of the firm, has already been approved by its board of directors and awaits shareholder approval. The company said it hoped the deal, which represents a 35% premium above Syniverse's Oct 26 closing price, would close by the end of the first quarter 2011. As in the CommScope deal, Syniverse will become a private company after its acquisition.

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Syniverse provides mobile roaming, messaging and network technology to more than 800 mobile operators, cable and Internet providers in over 160 countries. Analysts at Morningstar believe the deal is beneficial to Syniverse's growth as a company and provides adequate profits for shareholders.

"We believe long-term growth for the firm will be driven by continued expansion into international markets and efforts to leverage the recent acquisition of VeriSign's (VRSN) messaging business to exploit the trend from voice to digital media," analyst John Ayling said in a note. Morningstar said the deal should be approved as expected.

Both Carlyle deals this week were struck for similar prices and offer similar premium at the time of sale. CommScope was purchased for $31.50 per share at a 39% premium and Syniverse for $31 per share at a 35% premium. Both transactions have also attracted shareholder lawsuits alleging that the boards of CommScope and Syniverse could have negotiated a higher sale price for shareholders.