Managed mobility solutions vendor Synchronoss is plunking down $821 million in cash to acquire Intralinks Holdings, maker of secure filesharing and collaboration software. Synchronoss's total market capitalization is around $2 billion, making this deal seemingly a big pill to swallow on its face, and investors reacted accordingly, sending the company's stock down.
Synchronoss is known for its partnerships with large carriers such as Verizon, as well as Goldman Sachs, around secure mobility solutions. It also focuses on retailers and OEM deals with its suite of products, which includes ID management, network asset management, backup and transfer, and messaging capabilites.
The company is planning to divest most of its activation business to Sequential Technologies in order to focus on the combined capabilities of Intralinks and its own assets. The intent is to go to market across a series of verticals, including health care, financial services, life sciences, legal, public sector and energy.
Synchronoss actually already had a secure file sharing service of its own, called Workspaces. But that application is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, in contrast to Intralinks, which is used by 99 percent of the Fortune 500 and is a much heavier-duty product overall.
Beyond the particulars of Syncronoss's move, the deal points to a broader trend. "File sharing is no longer a standalone market," says Constellation Research VP and principal analyst Alan Lepofsky. "The focus is on how content can be used within business processes."
"Even with the cloud, we do not see a decrease in the amount of content being created," he adds. "Instead, rather content still lives at the heart of all processes. From forms to contracts to x-rays to music, et cetera. Now more than ever, it's important that organizations be able to secure that content, and make it available to everyone at all times."
