Raindance latest local company to be purchased by West Corp.

LOUISVILLE – A week after it purchased Intrado Inc., West Corp. is buying another Boulder Valley company.

Omaha, Neb.-based West (Nasdaq: WSTC), best known for its call-center solutions, is buying Louisville-based Web-conferencing provider Raindance Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RNDC) for $2.70 per share.

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, funded with cash on hand, West’s existing bank credit facility and additional debt. The total cost is valued at about $110 million.

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The timing of the announcements “was kind of a coincidence,´ said David Pleiss, West’s vice president of investor and public relations. “We had been working with both these companies for some time, but it just worked out that it was this close together.”

Founded in 1997, Raindance was one of the pioneers in Web conferencing.

Raindance will fit in with West’s conferences services segment, which is driven by InterCall Inc., a Chicago-based conferencing solution provider West bought in 2003. Pleiss expects InterCall customers to buy Raindance products and vice versa.

The purchase of Raindance is different from West’s purchase of Intrado, Pleiss said. Intrado’s 911 systems and services is a completely new business for West, so it was natural for West to want to keep its staff and facilities. It’s also keeping the Intrado brand intact.

Since Raindance is similar to West’s current business lines, it’s more likely there will be overlap between them.

But no decisions have been made regarding staff, including executives, or the Raindance brand, Pleiss said. “Our goal is to get to know their business better and try to figure out what the best moves are.”

Last June West bought Sprint’s Overland Park, Kan.-based conferencing-related assets for $207 million and is still integrating it with InterCall, Pleiss said. Until that integration is complete “Raindance will continue to operate as it has,” he said.

The Intrado deal is costing West $465 million. The all-cash deal will net Intrado stockholders $26 per share.