CARY, N.C. …Â Wireless software company Avesair has been acquired by Washington, D.C.-based InPhonic, according to a published report.
The News & Observer newspaper in Raleigh reported in its Friday editions that InPhonic plans to announce the deal on Monday. No terms have been disclosed.
Avesair President David Spitz confirms to LocalTechWire that the deal took place this week but couldn’t comment on it because InPhonic has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission in advance of an initial public stock offering.
“We had been pursuing a channel strategy with a number of partners both in the U.S. and internationally for several months,” Spitz says. “While we were having those conversations with InPhonic, this conversation grew out of that. Over time, it seemed like a good plan, and we decided to go the acquisition route.”
Spitz says he and other members of Avesair’s management team will help with the transition into InPhonic but won’t stay with the company after that. Most of Avesair’s 20 or so employees will move into the new company, he says.
Avesair’s technology delivers advertisements and marketing messages to wireless phones. Its customers include Ford Motor Co., The Sporting News.com, USA Today and the Comedy Central cable network. The company has received outside funding from Intersouth Partners, Nokia Venture Partners and New Things Ventures.
InPhonic resells wireless services with enhanced capabilities, such as getting e-mail and accessing company data from a wireless device.
Avesair marks InPhonic’s second foray into the Triangle. In December 2001, the company purchased Cary-based GadgetSpace for $4.9 million in stock. GadgetSpace had merged with BrightPod, an Ericsson spinoff, immediately before the acquisition.
Avesair: www.avesair.com
InPhonic: www.inphonic.com
