It looks as if the telecom giant AT&T will be entering the Israeli market for the first time evah! (note: what took them so long?)
AT&T is making its presence known by buying out Interwise, an Israeli company responsible for web conferencing–which for you non geeks out there means they help businesses talk, train, record meetings, etc. in cyberspace.
(Globes Online) After a long period without news of sales of Israeli high-tech companies, a major exit was announced today. Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), through one of its subsidiaries, is buying IP network conferencing solutions company Interwise of Israel for $121 million. The acquisition, which is due to be completed by the end of the year, brings AT&T into the Israeli market for the first time. Interwise will continue to operate, as AT&T’s local development center within AT&T Global Business Services, which serves the largest enterprises around the world and is led by Group President Ronald E. Spears.
According to globes, AT&T is planning on keeping the management as well as the 140 staff members which is definitely good news as most buy outs often translate into corporate layoffs.
AT&T is planning on turning Interwise into its Israeli R&D center, and the company should provide some interesting competition against Google which is already invading AT&T’s space (within the internet industry) in the US.
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