Video provider First Connections sold to US company

Hampshire videoconferencing specialist acquired privately

US videoconferencing integrator Yorktel has bought out Basingstoke-headquartered rival First Connections for an undisclosed sum.

Ron Gaboury, chief executive at Yorktel, indicated in a statement that First Connections founder Keith Gyford would be retained as chief operating officer for Yorktel EMEA. He will reporting to the head of Yorktel's European operations, EMEA managing director David Berger.

"The similar expertise in videoconferencing integration and aligned offerings make this union an ideal and natural next step in the ongoing growth of our company," Gaboury said.

New Jersey-based Yorktel, which has had an EMEA office in Windsor since 2006, has 350 employees worldwide and revenue of about $100m (£62.6m). Formed in 1985, the private firm's offerings include a managed service integrated with the Blue Jeans Network cloud service.

Cisco and Polycom partner First Connections started in 1995 and built up a network of eight locations across the UK and Ireland offering audiovisual kit, videoconferencing services, private video networking, video streaming and integration.