BrightPoint to be acquired for $840M by California firm

BrightPoint Inc. has agreed to be acquired by California-based Ingram Micro Inc. for about $840 million, the two companies said early Monday morning.

In a deal announced just after midnight, Ingram Micro said it would acquire all outstanding shares of Indianapolis-based BrightPoint's common stock for $9 per share in cash.

Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro is the world's largest technology distributor and supply-chain services provider.

BrightPoint, founded in Plainfield in 1989, provides logistics to sellers of wireless devices. It has more than 1,300 employees in the Indianapolis area and about 4,000 worldwide.

The acquisition price is a 66-percent premium to BrightPoint's closing price of $5.41 per share on Friday and a 35-percent premium to BrightPoint's 90-day average trading price.

The price includes about $190 million in BrightPoint debt.

"The transaction with Ingram Micro will deliver significant value to our shareholders and will enable us to accelerate our global growth strategy," BrightPoint founder, chairman and CEO Robert J. Laikin said in a prepared statement. "This powerful combination will also provide compelling opportunities for BrightPoint's vendor partners, customers and employees to benefit from the financial strength, scale and broad geographic reach of the world's largest technology distribution company."

The acquisition must be approved by BrightPoint shareholders at a special meeting that is likely to take place in the third quarter. The deal is also subject to regulatory approvals. The companies said the deal should close by the end of the year.

"BrightPoint is a well-run company with leading, high-value services and solutions coupled with excellent distribution channels in the global mobility market," said Ingram Micro CEO Alain Monie in a prepared statement. "BrightPoint's offerings are highly complementary to both our logistics and distribution businesses, which will enable us to go to market with the leading portfolio of mobility device lifecycle services and solutions."

Laikin will remain with the merged company in a senior advisory role to Monie. BrightPoint senior executives Mark Howell, Bruce Thomlinson, Anurag Gupta, and Vincent Donargo have "committed to senior roles within the new organization," the companies said.

BrightPoint was named one of the country's 500 largest companies in 2011, ranking 463rd with $5.2 billion in revenue. Ingram was ranked 81st, with $36.3 billion in revenue.

"This is the right time for this transaction," Laikin said. "I believe strongly that Ingram Micro is the best partner for our business and employees going forward, and I am excited at the prospect of BrightPoint becoming part of a Fortune 100 company."

Ingram Micro said it has obtained $300 million in debt financing from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding Inc. to help pay for the acquisition.

The companies did not say what impact the deal would have on BrightPoint's presence in Indianapolis or on the company's work force, but it did say the merged companies expect "to realize annual cost synergies and efficiencies in excess of $55 million by 2014."