Vonage acquires Telesphere and its fish tank for $114M

An Arizona company has caught the eye of Vonage Holdings Corp, the leading provider of communication services.
Telesphere, an industry-leader of Unified Communications-as-a-Service solutions, is being acquired by Vonage.
Last week, Vonage entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Telesphere for $114M in cash and stock.
Since 2013, Telesphere has been growing and sweeping up awards. The company has been acknowledged in INC 5000 fastest growing companies, made Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, recognized in Career Builders Top Places to Work, and CEO Clark Peterson won the Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year Award.
Read: Clark Peterson wins major leadership award

Telesphere photo
Animal Planet’s TANKED crew & Clark Peterson

The big question is, what will happen to the fish tank?  Earlier this year, Wayde King and Brett Raymer of Animal Planet’s TANKED, built a massive 8-foot-tall, 3,200 pound aquarium in the shape of a larger-than-life telephone. Modeled to resemble the latest high-definition business phones, it is unlike any other aquarium in the world. Buried treasure of encased phone parts provides the backdrop inside the tank for exotic fish that inhabit the 300-gallon display. The fate of the fish are unknown at this time.
Until they figure that out, the acquisition means that Vonage will now be able to provide a comprehensive suite of services to cater to the enterprise customers.
Clark Peterson, CEO of Telesphere said, “Vonage already has a strong leadership position in hosted cloud communications and SaaS solutions through Vonage Business Solutions. Our two businesses complement each other well and will fortify Vonage’s scale in the high growth market for unified communications. As UCaaS continues to evolve and adoption grows among businesses of all sizes, Vonage and Telesphere will be at the forefront of this growth. I am very excited about our future together.”
Marc Lefar, Chief Executive Officer of Vonage comments on the acquisition, “A year after Vonage moved into the rapidly growing UCaaS market, we are substantially expanding our presence within the sector through the Telesphere acquisition. This is an important next step in the continued execution of the Company’s long-term growth strategy.”
Learn more about the terms of the agreement here
Read about Telesphere’s success (and the fish tank) at AZTB.