GLOBALINX Purchases TMC for 'Robust' Agent Channel

VoIP services provider GLOBALINX Enterprises announced Tuesday it will shore up its agent channel with the pending acquisition of fellow carrier TMC Communications. Financial terms were not disclosed; both companies are privately held.

The two companies aim to close the transaction in 60-90 days. When that happens, GLOBALINX will become an IXC in 50 states and a CLEC in about six, said Mike Machonkin, GLOBALINXs vice president of sales and marketing.

GLOBALINX has wanted to do M&A for some time, said Machonkin, and the opportunity with TMC was the first that seemed to be a good fit.

The biggest thing is that they have a pretty well-defined agent channel we have a very small agent channel, so this gives us a robust distribution channel that we didnt have, Machonkin said.

But GLOBALINX, which sells to residential subscribers as well as small businesses, also brings assets to TMC. For example, TMC tends to focus on TDM-based services, such as local PRI and 800-number setup. TMC does offer some IP products, but GLOBALINX is all-IP, which means agents will have access to more SIP trunking options as well as products such as hosted PBX. We bring VoIP to their piece of the puzzle, said Machonkin.

The deal also beefs up both companies wholesale offerings.

TMC employees will remain on board, although under the GLOBALINX name.

As far as the channel is concerned, GLOBALINX said nothing in agents contracts will change but noted in a press release that agents will sign amendments to their agreements.

What agents think of the GLOBALINX takeover of TMC is unclear. PHONE+ did not receive immediate replies to requests for comment. If anything, it seems a safe bet that agents might wonder how GLOBALINX, a provider with a small channel, will handle overseeing hundreds of agents. Machonkin acknowledged that could be perceived as a concern but, he pointed out, my background and a lot of the senior leadership here is from the agent community.

I think [agents] will be very pleasantly surprised with how things go, Machonkin said.

Ron Ireland, president of TMC and one of the people who will oversee the transition to GLOBALINX, agreed. The two companies share many of the same core values, including a commitment to selling through an independent sales channel as well as an entrepreneurial culture, he said in a prepared statement. Not only will our agents earn the same commissions and bonuses they currently earn with TMC, but they will have a wider variety of products to offer.

Ireland told PHONE+ that the sale also is a trigger event for equity payouts to some TMC agents who were involved in the company’s equity program. He did not say how many agents would be impacted.

GLOBALINX is owned by 5LINX Enterprises, which ranked No. 11 in the 2008 Inc. 500 list of top telecom firms. TMC was founded by John Marsch in 1997; Marsch died of cancer in 2006.