As reported by Light Reading, IP PBX firm Avaya (NYSE: AV) has made a US$144.8 million cash offer for SIP applications server firm Ubiquity (London: UBQ):

Avaya needs the support of 90 percent of Ubiquity’s shareholders and currently has about 58 percent. It expects the deal to close in about three weeks’ time.

Should the takeover bid be successful, Avaya, which provides IP telephony systems to enterprise users, would land itself a company with a tried and tested SIP services platform, along with extensive telecom partnerships and some some high-profile carrier customers, including BT Group plc (NYSE: BT) and BCE Inc. (Bell Canada) (NYSE/Toronto: BCE).

And with SIP application servers being a critical element in carrier IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)architectures, it would also give Avaya a foothold in one of telecom’s hottest, and most contentious, markets.