Mary McDowell Named CEO of Polycom Effective as of the Closing of the Acquisition of Polycom by Affiliates of Siris. Will succeed Peter Leav effective and contingent upon the closing of the acquisition of Polycom by affiliates of Siris.
Polycom, Inc. a global leader in helping organisations achieve new levels of teamwork, efficiency and productivity by unleashing the power of human collaboration, and Siris Capital Group, LLC, announced today that Mary McDowell will succeed Peter Leav as Polycom’s ceo effective and contingent on the closing of the merger of Polycom with an affiliate of Siris Capital. Peter Leav remains ceo and a board member until the transaction is closed. The transaction is expected to be completed in September or October, 2016, subject to the receipt of certain regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Ms. McDowell is a technology executive who has led global multi-billion dollar businesses in the mobile, consumer and enterprise sectors. She is currently an Executive Partner at Siris Capital. Prior to that, Ms. McDowell was the EVP, Mobile Phones at Nokia, where she held global P&L responsibility for the feature phone business and associated software and digital services. She joined Nokia in 2004 to lead the Enterprise Solutions business and later served as Chief Development Officer. Ms. McDowell has also held senior positions at Compaq Computer and Hewlett Packard. She serves on the boards of Autodesk, Inc., Bazaarvoice and UBM plc.
Mr. Leav has served as Polycom’s ceo since December, 2013. He has chosen to leave Polycom effective as of the close of the acquisition to pursue other opportunities. “Leading the Polycom team has been a phenomenal experience,” said Peter Leav, ceo of Polycom. “Mary is a terrific choice to lead the company after the acquisition closes. Polycom is on a great track to continue its success as a private entity.” The company also announced yesterday that Polycom stockholders approved the previously announced acquisition of Polycom by entities affiliated with Siris Capital Group, LLC, at a special meeting of Polycom’s stockholders held on September 2, 2016.
