BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

GENBAND Merger

On October 27, 2017, Sonus consummated an acquisition as specified in the Merger Agreement with NewCo and GENBAND such that, following the Merger, Sonus and GENBAND each became a wholly-owned subsidiary of NewCo, with Sonus deemed the acquirer in the transaction for accounting purposes. On November 28, 2017, the Company changed its name to "Ribbon Communications Inc."

Prior to the Merger, GENBAND was a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares that was formed on April 7, 2010. Through its wholly owned operating subsidiaries, GENBAND created rapid communications and applications for service providers, enterprises, independent software vendors, system integrators and developers globally. A majority of GENBAND's shares were held by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and managed by One Equity Partners ("OEP"). GENBAND shares were not listed on an exchange or quoted on any automated services, and there was no established trading market for GENBAND shares.

The Company believes that Sonus' and GENBAND's complementary products, solutions and strategies position the combined company to deliver comprehensive solutions to service providers and enterprises migrating to a virtualized all-IP environment in an expanded customer and global footprint.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, NewCo issued 50.9 million shares of Sonus common stock to the GENBAND equity holders, with the number of shares issued in the aggregate to the GENBAND equity holders equal to the number of shares of Sonus common stock outstanding immediately prior to the closing date of the Merger, such that former stockholders of Sonus would own approximately 50%, and former shareholders of GENBAND would own approximately 50%, of the shares of NewCo common stock issued and outstanding immediately following the consummation of the Merger.

In addition, NewCo repaid GENBAND’s long-term debt, including both principal and unpaid interest, to a related party of GENBAND totaling $48 million and repaid GENBAND’s management fees due to an affiliate of OEP totaling $10.3 million. NewCo also issued a promissory note for $22.5 million to certain GENBAND equity holders.

NewCo assumed the liability under GENBAND's revolving credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank (the "GENBAND facility"), which had outstanding borrowings and letters of credit totaling $17.9 million and $2.9 million, respectively, at October 27, 2017. At October 27, 2017, the outstanding borrowings had an average interest rate of 4.67%.

The Merger has been accounted for as a business combination and the financial results of GENBAND have been included in the Company's consolidated financial statements for the period subsequent to its acquisition.

As of December 31, 2017, the valuation of acquired assets, identifiable intangible assets and certain assumed liabilities is preliminary. The Company is still in the process of investigating the facts and circumstances existing as of the Merger Date in order to finalize its valuation. The Company expects to finalize the valuation of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the third quarter of 2018.

A summary of the preliminary allocation of the purchase consideration for GENBAND is as follows (in thousands):



Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash consideration:
Repayment of GENBAND long-term debt and accrued interest, related party	$	47,973
Payment of GENBAND management fees due to majority shareholder	10,302
Less cash acquired	(15,324		)
Net cash consideration	42,951
Fair value of Sonus stock issued	413,982
Promissory note issued to GENBAND equity holders	22,500
Fair value of total consideration	$	479,433

Fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed:
Current assets, net of cash acquired	$	99,126
Property and equipment	16,770
Intangible assets:
In-process research and development	5,600
Developed technology	129,000
Customer relationships	101,300
Trade names	900
Goodwill	285,825
Other noncurrent assets	6,732
Revolving credit facility	(17,930		)
Deferred revenue	(32,390		)
Other current liabilities	(80,023		)
Deferred revenue, net of current	(6,804		)
Other long-term liabilities	(28,673		)
	$	479,433

The valuation of the acquired intangible assets is inherently subjective and relies on significant unobservable inputs. The Company used an income approach to value the acquired developed technology, customer relationships and trade name intangible assets. The valuation for each of these intangible assets was based on estimated projections of expected cash flows to be generated by the assets, discounted to the present value at discount rates commensurate with perceived risk. The valuation assumptions take into consideration the Company's estimates of customer attrition, technology obsolescence and revenue growth projections. The Company will reclassify its in-process research and development intangible assets to developed technology intangible assets in the periods that the related products became generally available and begin to record amortization expense for such developed technology intangible assets at that time. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets in relation to the expected cash flows from the individual intangible assets over their respective useful lives, which have a weighted average life of 8.3 years (see Note 9). Goodwill resulting from the transaction is primarily due to expected synergies between the combined companies and is not deductible for tax purposes.

Pro Forma Results

The following unaudited pro forma information presents the condensed combined results of operations of Sonus and GENBAND for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 as if the Merger had been completed on January 1, 2016, with adjustments to give effect to pro forma events that are directly attributable to the Merger. These pro forma adjustments include a reduction of historical GENBAND revenue for the fair value adjustment related to acquired deferred revenue, an increase in amortization expense for the acquired identifiable intangible assets, a decrease in historical GENBAND interest expense reflecting the extinguishment of certain of GENBAND's debt as a result of the Merger, net of the interest expense recorded in connection with the promissory note issued to certain GENBAND equity holders as part of the purchase consideration and the elimination of revenue and costs related to sales transactions between Sonus and GENBAND. Pro forma adjustments also include the elimination of acquisition- and integration-related costs directly attributable to the acquisition and incremental stock-based compensation expense directly attributable to the acquisition from the year ended December 31, 2017 and inclusion of such costs in the year ended December 31, 2016.

The unaudited pro forma results do not reflect any operating efficiencies or potential cost savings that may result from the consolidation of the operations of Sonus and GENBAND. Accordingly, these unaudited pro forma results are presented for illustrative purposes and are not intended to represent or be indicative of the actual results of operations of the combined company that would have been achieved had the Merger occurred at the beginning of the periods presented, nor are they intended to represent or be indicative of future results of operations (in thousands, except per share amounts):



	Year ended December 31,
	2017			2016
	(unaudited)
Revenue	$	615,286		$	631,914
Net loss	$	(69,741	)	$	(147,394	)
Loss per share	$	(0.69	)	$	(1.46	)

Taqua, LLC

The Company acquired Taqua, a privately-held company, on September 26, 2016 (the "Taqua Acquisition Date"). Taqua enables the transformation of software-based service provider networks to deliver next-generation voice, video and messaging services, including VoIP, VoWiFi and VoLTE. In consideration for the acquisition of Taqua, Sonus paid $19.9 million in cash to the sellers on the Taqua Acquisition Date, net of cash acquired. The Company also entered into an Earn-Out Agreement, dated as of September 26, 2016, with Taqua Holdings, LLC and Jeffrey L. Brawner, the seller representative in the transaction, under which there is the potential for additional cash payments of up to $65 million in the aggregate to the sellers if certain annual revenue thresholds are exceeded as measured annually through 2020. The Company had initially recorded $10 million of contingent consideration as of the Taqua Acquisition Date, with the estimate based on historical sales and probability weighted cash flows related to forecasted sales. Because there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of its fair value, namely, forecasted sales, the Company had categorized the earn-out at Level 3 within the fair value hierarchy. During the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company reassessed the historical and updated forecasted sales and accordingly, reversed the previous estimated contingent consideration such that as of December 31, 2016, no incremental contingent consideration was recorded. The Company regularly reassesses the historical and updated forecasted sales and will adjust the amount recorded for estimated contingent consideration as required. As of December 31, 2017, no incremental contingent consideration was recorded.

The transaction has been accounted for as a business combination and the financial results of Taqua have been included in the Company's consolidated financial statements for the period subsequent to its acquisition.

The Company finalized its valuation of the identifiable intangible assets in the second quarter of 2017. During the first quarter of 2017 and the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company recorded changes to the initial preliminary purchase price allocation. The primary adjustments in the first quarter of 2017 were a $0.4 million increase to current liabilities and a $0.1 million increase to noncurrent liabilities. During the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company recorded changes to the initial preliminary purchase price allocation. The primary adjustments recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016 were the aforementioned reversal of the $10 million of previously recorded contingent consideration, a reduction of $12.1 million to the developed technology intangible asset and an increase of $5.5 million to the customer relationship intangible asset. These adjustments, as well as other immaterial adjustments to other balance sheet accounts, resulted in a net reduction to goodwill of $2.2 million. Based on this final purchase price allocation, the Company recorded $9.6 million of goodwill, which is primarily due to expected synergies between the combined companies and expanded market opportunities resulting from the expanded product offering portfolio. The goodwill is deductible for tax purposes.

A summary of the final allocation of the purchase consideration for Taqua is as follows (in thousands):



Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash, net of cash acquired	$	19,919

Fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed:
Current assets	$	3,347
Property and equipment	1,478
Intangible assets:
Developed technology	2,100
Customer relationships	9,510
Goodwill	9,581
Other noncurrent assets	23
Current liabilities	(5,435		)
Long-term liabilities	(685		)
	$	19,919

The Company's revenue for the year ended December 31, 2016 included $1.9 million of revenue attributable to Taqua since the Taqua Acquisition Date. The inclusion of Taqua's operations for the period from the Taqua Acquisition Date to December 31, 2016 in the Company's financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016 increased the Company's loss by $4.7 million. The Company has not provided pro forma financial information, as the historical amounts were not significant to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

SDN Business of Treq Labs, Inc.

On January 2, 2015 (the "Treq Asset Acquisition Date"), the Company acquired from Treq Labs, Inc. ("Treq"), certain assets related to Treq's business of designing, developing, marketing, selling, servicing and maintaining SDN technology, SDN controller software and SDN management software (the "SDN Business"). The SDN Business provides solutions that optimize networks for voice, video and UC for both enterprise and service provider customers. In consideration for the acquisition of the SDN Business, Sonus paid $10.1 million in cash on the Treq Asset Acquisition Date, and an additional consideration payment of $750,000 on each of July 2, 2015 and January 4, 2016. The Company also entered into an Earn-Out Agreement, dated as of January 2, 2015, with Treq and Karl F. May, the seller representative in the transaction (the "Earn-Out Agreement"), under which the Company agreed to issue up to an aggregate of 1.3 million shares of common stock over a three-year period subsequent to the Treq Asset Acquisition Date if aggregate revenue thresholds of at least $60 million are achieved by the SDN Business during that period, and up to an aggregate of an additional 2.2 million shares of common stock (3.5 million shares in total) if aggregate revenue thresholds of at least $150 million are achieved by the SDN Business during that period. If the initial revenue thresholds are not met, no shares will be issued. Based on historical and forecasted sales, no incremental contingent consideration was recorded either initially as of the Treq Asset Acquisition Date or through December 31, 2017. Any shares issued pursuant to the Earn-Out Agreement will be issued in reliance on the exemption from registration available under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and will be subsequently registered for resale under the Securities Act by the Company.

The transaction has been accounted for as a business combination. The Company finalized its valuation of the identifiable intangible assets in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Based on the purchase price allocation, the Company recorded $1.0 million of goodwill, primarily due to expected synergies between the combined companies and expanded market opportunities. The goodwill is deductible for tax purposes.

A summary of the final allocation of the purchase consideration for the SDN Business is as follows (in thousands):



Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash, net of cash acquired	$	11,647
Fair value of assets acquired:
Intangible assets:
In-process research and development	$	9,100
Developed technology	1,500
Goodwill	1,047
	$	11,647

The valuation of the acquired intangible assets is inherently subjective and relies on significant unobservable inputs. The Company used an income approach to value the acquired in-process research and development and developed technology intangible assets. The valuation for each of these intangible assets was based on estimated projections of expected cash flows to be generated by the assets, discounted to the present value at discount rates commensurate with perceived risk. The valuation assumptions take into consideration the Company's estimates of technology attrition and revenue growth projections. In the three months ended September 25, 2015, the Company reclassified $7.5 million of its in-process research and development intangible assets to its developed technology intangible assets. During the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company reclassified the remaining $1.6 million of in-process research and development intangible assets to its developed technology intangible assets. These amounts were reclassified from in-process research and development intangible assets to developed technology intangible assets in the periods that the related products became generally available and began to record amortization expense for such developed technology intangible assets. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets in relation to the expected cash flows from the individual intangible assets over their respective useful lives (see Note 9).

The Company has not disclosed the amount of revenue or earnings of the SDN Business since the SDN Business Acquisition Date or pro forma financial information, as these amounts are not significant to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

Acquisition- and Integration-Related Expenses

Acquisition- and integration-related expenses include those expenses related to acquisitions that would otherwise not have been incurred by the Company. The acquisition-related expenses include professional and services fees, such as legal, audit, consulting, paying agent and other fees, and expenses related to cash payments to certain former executives of the acquired businesses in connection with their employment agreements. The integration-related expenses represent incremental costs related to combining the two companies, such as third-party consulting and other third-party services related to merging the two separate companies' systems and processes. The amount recorded in the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily relates to the Merger, with a nominal amount related to the acquisition of Taqua. The amount recorded in the year ended December 31, 2016 relates to professional fees in connection with the acquisition of Taqua. The amount recorded in the year ended December 31, 2015 relates to professional fees in connection with the acquisition of the SDN Business.

The components of acquisition-related costs incurred in the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 are as follows (in thousands):



	Year ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Professional and services fees (acquisition-related)	$	11,916	$	1,152	$	131
Management bonuses (acquisition-related)	931		—		—
Integration-related expenses	1,916		—		—
	$	14,763	$	1,152	$	131