Call center software maker Interactive Intelligence explores sale: sources

BY LIANA B. BAKER AND GREG ROUMELIOTIS

Interactive Intelligence Group Inc, a U.S. provider of software and services for
call center operators, is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potenti
al sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
A sale of Interactive Intelligence would be the latest sign of the consolidation
sweeping the telecommunications software and equipment industry, as rapid techn
ological change and fierce competition force companies to seek more scale.
Interactive Intelligence is working with boutique investment bank Union Square A
dvisors LLC on a sale process that has attracted other telecommunications softwa
re companies, as well as private equity firms, the people said this week.
The sources cautioned that no deal is certain and asked not to be identified bec
ause the sale process is confidential. Union Interactive Intelligence declined t
o comment, while Union Square Advisors did not respond to requests for comment.
Shares of Interactive Intelligence rose 19 percent to $52.96 after Reuters repor
ted on the sale process, giving the company a market capitalization of almost $1
.2 billion.
Based in Indianapolis, Interactive Intelligence helps call center operators deve
lop applications that help them analyze data and improve customer service calls.
Some of its competitors include Aspect Software Inc, Cisco Systems Inc and Five
9 Inc.
Interactive Intelligence had a net loss of $13.2 million in the first quarter of
2016, compared with a loss of $3.46 million a year earlier. The company has sai
d that it has posted operating losses in recent quarters while it shifts its bus
iness model to the cloud.
In May, Israel's NICE said it would buy inContact Inc for $940 million. Private
equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC invested earlier this month in contact center
company Genesys in a deal that valued the company at $3.8 billion.
Not all companies in this fast-changing sector have been successful, however. Pr
ivate equity-backed Avaya Inc, which owns a sizable contact center business, has
also hired advisers to explore a sale or restructuring in order to deal with it
s debt burden, Reuters has reported.