Witness Completes Eyretel Acquisition

Witness Systems today announced the completion of its acquisition of Eyretel, a U.K. provider of high-volume recording solutions. The acquisition, which began in late February and is valued at approximately $59.8 million, doubles Witness's revenues to about $140 million. And according to research firm Datamonitor, the deal makes Witness the market share leader in the global contact center recording market. "We are now the clear market leader in global call center recording with about 29 percent of the worldwide market. Nice Systems is at 23 percent," says Nancy Treaster, senior vice president of global marketing at Witness, a provider of performance optimization software and services. Eyretel is being taken off the London Exchange, as Witness holds substantially all of Eyretel's assets, either owning or securing valid acceptances for more than 90 percent of outstanding shares. The deal increases Witness's exposure to the European market and is expected to significantly bolster Witness's international presence. Last year only 17 percent of the Atlanta-based firm's revenues were generated from international accounts, Treaster says. "Now that the acquisition is complete, as the global market share leader, we offer an even more robust set of solutions to extend to our global customers to meet their growing needs," Dave Gould, CEO of Witness, said in a prepared statement. "Witness Systems is expanding in all areas of its business, including product, employees, customers, and partners, and has already experienced interest in our combined solution." Recording platforms from the former Eyretel and the Witness eQuality suite are expected to interoperate by the end of this quarter, Witness executives say. The combined platform will integrate Eyretel's recording, call visualization, and desktop monitoring applications as strategic applications in Witness' performance optimization strategy. Witness will also provide ongoing maintenance and support for Eyretel's global customers as the integrated platform comes together.