Minim Inc (MINM)

[zenvesting]

Zoom Telephonics in merger talks with Dyn founder's Internet startup

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/10/05/zoom-telephonics-mulls-merger-with-dyn-founders-i.html

Zoom Telephonics, a Boston-based maker of cable modems and other communications products, is taking steps toward a possible merger with the 3-year-old New Hampshire startup launched by the founder of Dyn.

Zoom, which is traded over-the-counter, said in filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week that it entered into an exclusivity agreement with New Hampshire-based Minim Inc. regarding a possible business combination. The agreement states that the companies will not pursue any outside mergers until after Oct. 8.

In an email, Jeremy Hitchcock, founder and executive chairman of Minim, declined to comment about the deal. According to another public filing dated Sept. 30, Hitchcock is not participating in the discussions between Zoom Telephonics and Minim regarding the possible transaction.
Zoom Telephonics did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hitchcock launched Minim Inc. following a 2016 cyberattack that hit Dyn, the Internet infrastructure company he started in 2001. Dyn was acquired by software giant Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) in 2017, reportedly for over $600 million.

Minim launched started offering software in 2017 that automatically identifies unusual behavior while monitoring the Internet traffic flowing from connected home devices. At that time, it had $2.5 million in funding from local venture capital firms Flybridge Capital Partners and Founder Collective. Neither firm backed Dyn.

When contacted for comment on the possible merger, Kelly Crowley-McInnis, a former director of human resources at Zoom Telephonics, told the Business Journal that her position and a handful of other senior roles at Zoom Telephonics were eliminated in advance of the potential merger with Minim. Crowley-McInnis, who had been with the company since 2019, said her last day was Sept. 5, and the company has around 50 full-time workers in Massachusetts.

Both companies work with the smartphone company Motorola Mobility LLC. Earlier this year, Zoom Telephonics was granted the extension of its license agreement with Motorola, which makes Zoom a supplier of Motorola-branded cable modems and other products until 2025. Meanwhile, in 2019, Minim announced the integration of its software into Motorola-branded router products from Zoom Telephonics.

The agreement between Zoom Telephonics and Minim, inked on Sept. 26, can be extended beyond its current deadline for 14 days.