ViaPath Technologies, which provides telecommunications and other services to the incarcerated population across the US, is in talks to go public through a merger with Tristar Acquisition I Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — ViaPath Technologies, which provides telecommunications and other services to the incarcerated population across the US, is in talks to go public through a merger with Tristar Acquisition I Corp., people with knowledge of the matter said.
A transaction could value the company at more than $1.5 billion, according to the people, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information. No deal has been reached and it’s possible talks could collapse.
Falls Church, Virginia-based ViaPath is led by Chief Executive Officer Deb Alderson and backed by private equity firm American Securities. The company was known as Global Tel*Link before rebranding itself in January 2022. It helped facilitate 4.1 billion inmate call minutes in 2020, its website shows. ViaPath also provides reintegration services such as online education and workforce development.
Representatives for American Securities and Tristar declined to comment. A ViaPath representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tristar, led by CEO William “Billy” Mounger, raised $230 million in an October 2021 initial public offering. The special purpose acquisition company has said it’s focused on the telecommunications and technology-oriented sectors.
In 2021, another prison phone operator, Securus Technologies Inc., held talks to merge with a SPAC but that deal never came to fruition.
Read more: Lenders to Tom Gores’s Prison Phone Company Tap Advisers on Debt
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
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