Twilio invests up to $ 750 million in Syniverse

Cloud communications company Twilio Inc. On an investment of up to $ 750 million in Syniverse Technologies LLC in the introduction to the public listing of the privately held correspondent company.

When the Wall Street Journal first published the news, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday that the investment, announced on Monday, could be followed in the coming months by a merger between Syniverse and a special purpose acquisition company. They said such a deal might value Syniverse, which is owned by the private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. , About $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion, including debt. There is no guarantee that Syniverse will withdraw the listing, either through a SPAC deal or a traditional IPO.

If it goes public through SPAC, it will be the latest in a recent series of such deals as more companies search for an alternative to the traditional initial public offering. It goes public with no business, then looks for one to merge with, and provides the resulting transaction the target with a list.

Crucially to Syniverse, the Twilio deal involved a commercial arrangement that would send a great deal of business on its way. Syniverse may also use the proceeds of the SPAC deal to make acquisitions.

Syniverse provides roaming, messaging, and other communication services to mobile operators and other companies. Since 2011 it is owned by Carlisle.