HP Inc. announced the completion of its acquisition of Poly, a global provider of workplace collaboration solutions.
The deal, first announced in March 2022, is expected to accelerate HP’s strategy to create a more growth-oriented portfolio, further strengthen its industry opportunity in hybrid work solutions, and position the combined organisation for long-term sustainable growth and value creation.
“This is a historic day for our business as we mark the union of two iconic companies that are innovating at the heart of hybrid work,” said Enrique Lores, President and CEO of HP. “Poly brings incredibly strong talent, differentiated technology, and a complementary go-to-market system that we believe will further strengthen our position in large and growing markets. Together, we will have vast opportunities to innovate for customers and grow our business as we continue building a stronger HP.”
Poly brings video conferencing solutions, cameras, headsets, voice and software to HP, allowing customers to create meeting equity between those in the room and those who are not. The combined organisation will deliver a complete ecosystem of devices, software, and digital services to create premium employee experiences, improve workforce productivity, and provide enterprise customers with better visibility, insights, security, and manageability across their hybrid IT environments.
“As ideas around the role of the traditional office continue to shift, there is a critical need for organisations to enable rich collaboration experiences between in-person and remote workers,” said Patrick Moorhead, CEO and Chief Analyst, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Combining Poly and HP is a win-win for both organisations. More importantly, uniting these two companies will provide end-users with the essential hardware, software, and services required to successfully navigate hybrid work experiences now and into the future.”
With the transaction completed, Poly CEO Dave Shull will join HP as President, Workforce Services & Solutions, starting 1 November. Shull will lead the newly formed organisation focused on driving a more expansive growth agenda across HP’s commercial services business. He brings global experience spanning technology, digital media, operational transformation, and business development to the role. Shull will join the HP executive leadership team and report to Lores.
Andy Rhodes will run the combined HP-Poly business as General Manager, Hybrid Work Solutions & Peripherals. Rhodes, who joined HP in 2018, has previously led the company’s commercial Personal Systems business and built the global peripherals organisation. Prior to HP, he held a number of senior executive roles at Dell. Rhodes will continue to report to HP Personal Systems President, Alex Cho.
HP completed the deal as an all-cash transaction of $40 (€39.89) per share, implying a total enterprise value of approximately $3.3 billion (€3.29 billion), inclusive of Poly’s net debt. The transaction was financed through a combination of balance sheet cash and new debt.
