Poly (formerly Plantronics)

Poly is a global communications company that develops communication and collaboration between people. Poly combines experience and capabilities in audio and video conferencing to offset distractions, Internet communication difficulties, and distance that make communication in the office and beyond difficult enough.

Founded  in 1961   in the USA, the company already  in 1964  produced equipment for use  in aviation technology  and NASA space programs. The first expedition to the  moon used Plantronics headsets  as standard communication equipment  and the words of the first person who set foot on the  lunar surface were transmitted to the whole world precisely through the Plantronics headset. In 1986 , the company founded a branch  in England  and entered the  European market.

History

2022: HP acquired the company for $3.3 billion

At the end of March 2022, HP Inc acquired the developer of VKS systems Poly. The value of the transaction amounted to $3.3 billion, including debt. In addition to Poly, HP Inc also sinned a number of other acquisitions.

HP Inc CEO Enrique Lores, prior to the deal with Poly, announced an opportunity to expand the company's peripherals business, and this acquisition could significantly affect HP Inc's business growth in this direction. Meanwhile, the size of the corporation can help Poly solve existing supply chain problems by giving the company access to a wider range of customers.

HP Inc. bought the developer of VKS systems Poly for $3.3 billion

HP Inc CEO Enrique Lores said HP sees "tremendous opportunities" in growing hybrid operations with expanding markets for video and audio conferencing equipment, headsets used at home. This view is similar to the position of Poly CEO Dave Shull.

{{quote 'The future of work is hybrid, that is, in any team a certain percentage of people will work remotely for some time, while the rest will be in the office. Priority work formats will change, but the simple truth is that the future of work will almost always include at least one person outside the conference room and one person in it, "Shull said in Poly's latest earnings report. }} In February 2021, HP Inc bought the gaming periphery company HyperX from Kingston Technology for $425 million. HyperX specializes in gaming headsets for both PCs and console systems. HP Inc Corporation expects the transaction to close by the end of calendar year 2022, pending approval of Poly shareholders, regulatory approvals and other normal closing conditions. The corporation plans to cross-sell Poly products through its commercial and consumer sales channels, as well as increase sales by combining Poly products with HP Inc's PC portfolio .^[1]

2021: $4 million investment in video analysis platform developer CLIPr

On June 23, 2021, CLIPr, the developer of the video analysis and management (VAM) platform of the same name, announced that Poly, a global provider of professional audio and video communication solutions, has become its investor, strategic partner and customer. As noted, Poly invested $4 million in CLIPr. At the first stage, Poly will use the VAM platform (video analysis and management) to solve internal problems - analyze the recorded video meetings of global sales teams. More details here.

2020: Dave Schull - new CEO of Poly

On August 17, 2020, Poly announced the appointment of Dave Shull as the new CEO and president, as well as a member of the company's board of directors. He will begin new duties on September 8, 2020. More details here.

2019

Three Cisco employees went to a competitor, Poly taking secret documents

On November 19, 2019, it became known that three Cisco employees left for a rival company - Poly, taking thousands of secret documents. More details here.

Renaming the company to Poly

The Poly logo reflects the new vector of the company's development and pays tribute to its origins: the lava red color and the arrangement of the letters form a propeller, which reflects the 60-year history of aircraft headphones from Plantronics, while three legs are inspired by the design of the famous Polycom conference phone.

Plantronics on March 18, 2019 announced to TAdviser its transformation into the technology company Poly. According to representatives of the company, its main goal will be to simplify, expand and improve the opportunities for remote communication and collaboration, in order to make communications between people in different places as natural and simple as in personal communication.

Poly (which means "many") will use the deep expertise in the field of audio and video communication of Plantronics and Polycom and their wide range of smart solutions and services connected to each other, as well as with various unified communication platforms.

Today is my first day as CEO of the new company, said Joe Burton, president and CEO of Poly. - We see unlimited opportunities for simplifying communication and cooperation between people. In the future, the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning and other technologies will help Poly solutions connect users with each other, and then continue to work discreetly for them, ensuring high-quality meetings.

Poly focuses on 4 areas of innovation:

• Create user-friendly workspaces. In modern offices with an open layout, there are many distractions and sounds, which leads to a decrease in productivity and mood of employees. Poly offers solutions that help reduce outside noise, as well as technologies that make small meeting rooms as multifunctional as meeting rooms.
• Giving people the opportunity to work together in the way they are comfortable. Many companies use multiple collaboration solutions at the same time, and they need endpoints that can work with all of them. Poly offers a wide range of products to meet all needs.
• Develop mobile remote solutions.
• Develop cloud services that help IT professionals and users get the most out of their devices. Poly will focus on allowing users to use devices that are convenient for them, and IT professionals will be convenient to manage them.

2018

Plantronics, Inc.  has been developing headsets  in various areas of communication for more than 40 years.

Payment of $37 million to authorities for bribing officials by Polycom

On December 26, 2018, Plantronics announced a settlement of the investigation conducted by the US authorities in connection with the suspicion of bribery by Polycom. Under the terms of the agreement, Plantronics will pay almost $37 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice, and they will stop the proceedings and will not press formal charges.

According to the SEC, the Chinese representative office Polycom used local distributors and resellers to bribe officials from the PRC government from 2006 to 2014. The company provided partners with discounts for paying the saved money to representatives of the authorities who made decisions on the purchase of products. When managers reported on deal details, they provided false contract justifications, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing an SEC statement.

Plantronics will pay $37 million for Polycom to pay bribes to officials

Plantronics did not admit, but did not reject these charges, although it agreed to return the misappropriated funds in the amount of $10.7 million, as well as pay an administrative fine of $3.8 million and interest of $1.8 million. In addition, the manufacturer of headsets and various audio solutions will transfer $20.3 million as part of an agreement with the US Department of Justice, which, along with the SEC, monitors compliance with anti-corruption legislation.

In a letter posted on the official website of the Ministry of Justice, it is reported that the department decided not to institute criminal proceedings against Polycom, since the company voluntarily revealed its actions and collaborated with the authorities.

Plantronics emphasized that the improper behavior of Polycom employees occurred before the company was acquired by Plantronics in July 2018 and before Polycom became private. All employees who were involved in the bribery left Polycom before the sale of the company.^[2]

Polycom Acquisition Completion

Plantronics on July 3, 2018 announced the completion of the acquisition of Polycom. The value of the transaction amounted to $2 billion. At the same time, part of the amount, approximately $1.64 billion, was paid in cash, and another part ($6.35 million) - in Plantronics shares. As a result, Triangle Private Holdings II, LLC, which was the sole shareholder of Polycom, received a 16% stake in Plantronics. More details here.

Plantronics buys Polycom for $2 billion

On March 28, 2018, Plantronics announced the purchase of a manufacturer of equipment for video conferencings Polycom $2 billion. The company changes ownership for the second time in less than two years. More. here