HP is buying Poly, the global provider of workplace collaboration solutions, for $1.7 billion in cash. HP has offered $40 for each share of Poly. Including debt, the buyout is valued at $3.3 billion. Expect the deal to close by the end of 2022.

Hybrid Work

The acquisition accelerates HP’s strategy to create a more growth-oriented portfolio, the company said. It strengthens its industry opportunity in hybrid work solutions and positions the company for long-term sustainable growth and value creation.

Further, the rise of hybrid work is creating sustained demand for technology that enables seamless collaboration across home and office environments. Approximately three in four office workers are investing to improve their home setups to support new ways of working. Moreover, traditional office spaces are also being reconfigured to support hybrid work and collaboration, with a focus on meeting room solutions. For example, there are more than 90 million rooms, of which less than 10% have video capability. The office meeting room solutions segment should triple by 2024.

HP’s Enrique Lores

Enrique Lores is president and CEO of HP.

“The rise of the hybrid office creates a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine the way work gets done,” Lores said. “Combining HP and Poly creates a leading portfolio of hybrid work solutions across large and growing markets. Poly’s strong technology, complementary go-to-market, and talented team will help to drive long-term profitable growth as we continue building a stronger HP.”

Poly’s Dave Shull

Dave Shull, Poly CEO and president, is trilled about the opportunity this represents for Poly, its partners, and customers, he said.

“The combination gives us an opportunity to dramatically scale, reaching new markets and channels. It supercharges our innovation with a like-minded partner. This transaction offers compelling and certain value for our shareholders and speaks to the hard work done by our teams to become a recognized leader in helping businesses everywhere meet the challenges of a generational disruption in the way people work.”

Cloud Platforms

However, in a more hybrid world, cloud platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams will play an important role in innovating new experiences.

Eric Yuan is founder and CEO of Zoom.

Zoom’s Eric Yuan

“Highest quality audio and video has become an essential component of work across every industry, whether in an office, at home, or on the go. Bringing the Poly and HP offerings together will unlock new opportunities to partner with Zoom and turn any space into a hub for dynamic video collaboration.”

Poly will help drive the growth and scale of HP’s peripherals and workforce solutions businesses. Peripherals represent a $110 billion segment opportunity growing 9% annually, driven by the need for more immersive experiences. In addition, workforce solutions represent a $120 billion segment opportunity that is growing 8% annually. This is as companies invest in digital services to set up, manage and secure more distributed IT ecosystems. Poly’s devices, software and services, combined with HP’s strengths across compute, device management and security, creates a robust portfolio, the companies said.

Poly provides conferencing solutions, cameras, headsets, voice and software. Subsequently, HP and Poly will deliver a complete ecosystem of devices, software and digital services. This will allow for premium employee experiences and improved workforce productivity, the companies said. The deal gives enterprise customers better visibility, insights, security and manageability across their hybrid IT environments.