The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Silver Lake Partners, the private equity firm that owns Avaya, is once again interested in buying Tandberg (according to Reuters here). A Silver Lake-Tandberg deal had been rumored just under a year ago.You have to wonder how this fits in with the rumored Avaya buyout of Nortel Enterprise. Would Silver Lake shell out $2 billion for Tandberg, as the Reuters article suggests, and heap another half-billion (though possibly less) on top to pick up Nortel? Or is this a sign that Avaya's going for consolidation across technologies and products rather than attempting to buy market share with Nortel? Or are they waiting to see the results of the auction of Nortel assets scheduled for later this month?
I think if Silver Lake/Avaya could only buy one, they'd be better off with Tandberg; what do you think?
