At last, we can lift the lid on the worst-kept secret in the RA industry. Israeli vendors ECtel and cVidya have announced they will merge in a deal that will see ECtel shareholders receive a 58% premium on the recent share price (subject to the usual regulatory approval blah blah). You can read more details in the press release.
The reason for the merger was best explained with this comment by Yair Cohen, Chairman of ECtel’s Board of Directors:
At the board we… recognize the challenges of continuing the path as an independent public company operating in a competitive and consolidating market that is limited in its size.
In other words, forget the hype about endlessly growing markets and how everybody loves/needs/wants more and more revenue assurance. The truth is that competition is cutthroat and only the strongest will survive…
