ECtel and cVidya Merge

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…

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalns
Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), a global association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press. He is a qualified chartered accountant, with degrees in information systems, and in mathematics and philosophy.