Bowing to shareholder pressure, Longmont-based Intrado Inc., a 911-emergency software company, said Monday it would be sold to West Corp. for about $465 million.
A dissident shareholder group led by Walt Disney nephew Roy Disney threatened to sue the company last fall over a list of demands.
At the same time, Intrado hired J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. to look at merger or acquisition opportunities. Intrado said the two issues were not related.
A spokesman at the dissident shareholder group – Disney’s Shamrock Activist Value Fund in California – Monday declined to comment on the planned sale, which must be approved by shareholders.
“We’ve always focused on value for our shareholders,” said David Whitten, Intrado’s senior vice president of corporate development and strategy. “What’s most important is that West Corp.’s primary motivation is value being built and growth for the future.”
Company executives, including founder George Heinrichs, are expected to stay on after the merger, Whitten said. The sale is scheduled to close by the end of June. Some of the company’s more than 600 employees could be laid off after the sale, Whitten said.
The 911-emergency market is growing as more people switch to cellphones and Internet- based calling services, said Thom as Barker, chief executive of West Corp.
Intrado will bring additional revenue to West’s already-profitable business, Barker said.
Omaha-based West Corp. operates 50 call-center locations around the world and has more than 23,000 employees, said David Pleiss, a West Corp. spokesman.
West Corp.’s buy price is $26 a share. Intrado’s stock closed at $25.72 Monday, up $2.72.
Staff writer Beth Potter can be reached at 303-820-1503 or bpotter@denverpost.com.
