US mobile solutions vendor Syniverse announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire VeriSign’s messaging business for US$175 million. The business had an annual revenue run-rate of approximately US$140 million over the last 12 months, and the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to cash net income. The acquisition, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, will combine Syniverse’s ‘NEXT’ portfolio of messaging offerings with four of VeriSign’s operator and enterprise-focused mobile business lines. These include Inter-Carrier Gateway, which enables operators to deliver inter-carrier person-to-person SMS and MMS messages across geographies and technologies; PictureMail, an MMS platform; a Premium Messaging Gateway that manages delivery of ‘off-portal’ or third-party content to subscribers; and Mobile Enterprise Solutions.

“This acquisition will benefit both global operators and subscribers,” said Tony Holcombe, President and CEO, Syniverse. “As mobile messaging volumes continue to experience double-digit growth, Syniverse will have the scale, reach and capabilities needed to provide mobile operators – large or small – with greater vendor choice and faster time to market for the services subscribers demand. Ultimately, the mobile consumer will benefit from more messaging services and applications.” The acquisition will see Syniverse increase its global footprint with the integration of approximately 300 additional employees located primarily in the US and Asia Pacific. 100 of these will be based in India, a country where Syniverse was recently awarded a contract to supply number portability services.