UTStarcom (NASDAQ: UTSI) announced that it has completed the acquisition of selected assets of Audiovox Communications Corporation (ACC), the wireless handset division of Audiovox Corporation (NASDAQ: VOXX).
Under the terms of the agreement, UTStarcom now owns select assets and liabilities of ACC and has taken on ACC's workforce of approximately 250 employees. The purchase price for such assets and liabilities was approximately $165.1 million.
"Audiovox is an integral part of our strategy to become a full-solutions provider of wireless telecommunication equipment worldwide," said Hong Lu, president and chief executive officer of UTStarcom. "The Audiovox acquisition
provides us with a market-proven CDMA handset brand, a tremendous sales, service, and support platform and existing customer relationships with top- tier carriers in both North and South America, all of which makes UTStarcom well-positioned for entry into the global CDMA market."
Philip Christopher, former chief executive officer of ACC and the new president and chief executive officer of UTStarcom Personal Communications LLC based in Hauppauge, New York, says, "Our objective is to maintain and expand present supply agreements and complement our product line with low cost handsets to be manufactured in China. Executives from major US carriers have already visited UTStarcom's manufacturing operations in China and have been very pleased with what they observed."
