NextPoint Networks

Founded: December 2007, shotgun wedding of NexTone and Reef Point Systems

Status: Assimilated by GENBAND, September 2008

What did it do: Number #2 in SBC market share, FMC, DPI

Website: www.nextpointnetworks.com
 
The companies making up NextPoint Networks (not to be confused with Nextpoint, the litigation software firm) burned through an estimated $150 million in venture capital before merging.
 
An initial merger announcement scheduled to take place at in October 2007 in Boston transmogrified into a "working relationship" between the two companies; a formal merger finally took place in December 2007 with a wedding gift of $20 million in venture money.
 
Haughty announcements of "We're not cutting jobs, we're adding them" followed the completion of the merger in January 2008, but the energy surge seemed to peak at CTIA - followed by various outsourcing and job cuts over the summer to shape up the company to be sold off. 
 
At its peak, NexTone held the number 2 position in the SBC market, while Reef Point seemed to develop a lot of products. We never heard anyone in the FMC world say they lost sleep at night about what Reef Point was doing.
 
Still, NextPoint had the only SBC technology and customer base worth having, but we're dying to know how much GENBAND paid to acquire the company. Did GENBAND pay something around our guess at list price ($150-170 million) or get a discount as the credit markets started to tighten?