VAS Holdings and Thing5 Agree to Merge, Creating $45 Million Managed Telecommunications Technology Leader

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. & SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VAS Holdings Inc. and Thing5 LLC announced today a merger agreement to create a $45 million Communications-as-a-Service (CaaS) technology leader. The merged entity will offer the industry's most complete set of CaaS solutions for the hospitality, travel and financial services industries by providing enterprise level, managed telecommunications and customer service systems with BPO capability. The combined company will have the #1 position in the hospitality telecommunications sector, with its solutions used at over 4,000 properties.

“This merger advances our strategy to offer best-in-class capabilities. Our clients will benefit from our new, advanced analytics and cloud computing solutions”

David Thor, managing director of Thing5, will be chief executive officer of the new company, while Robert Camastro, chief executive officer of VAS Holdings, will remain as a strategic advisor.

"This is an exciting move for both organizations, and for the hospitality industry. The combined financial strength and leading solution sets result in a provider with tremendous momentum and reliability – and an even greater value and deeper product stack for existing and new customers," said Thor. "In addition to the clear strategic benefits of combining two highly complementary organizations and product families, we have created substantial telecommunications, workflow and labor efficiencies for our customers and the industry as a whole."

"This merger advances our strategy to offer best-in-class capabilities. Our clients will benefit from our new, advanced analytics and cloud computing solutions," said Camastro. "VAS’ and Thing5’s combined product set creates an end-to-end communications platform for hotels that is unique in the industry."

The new organization’s combined offerings, known as CloudPak™, will allow clients to have access to new, powerful tools that enable unparalleled control over the voice channel. The VAS-Thing5 services will fully integrate the people and technology components of voice services. CloudPak will enable access to advanced analytics for all customer voice interactions including central reservations, on-property reservations, front desk and other business lines such as restaurants and spas. CloudPak’s industry leading, turn-key, cloud communication services will offer a professional, sophisticated customer experience with ultimate flexibility for its clients.

About VAS Holdings Inc.

Virtual Agent Services is a leading provider of contact center solutions connecting award-winning customer care professionals with companies who service a high-end clientele. Its distributed workforce is located throughout North America and offers articulate call center solutions across industries such as travel and hospitality, telecommunications, retail sales, financial and utility services. VAS’ employees are linked through an innovative virtual network, creating an unlimited array of support function options that include inbound sales and customer account maintenance, credit management, help desk and provisioning, and reservation services. To learn more about Virtual Agent Services, please visit http://www.vagent.com.

About Thing5 LLC

Thing5 L.L.C. is a provider of next-generation hosted voice solutions that include hosted PBX, hosted voicemail with auto-attendant, intelligent trunking, mobile applications for guests, and support for legacy pbx systems. Thing5 services are delivered on a highly scalable and geographically redundant platform as Communication-as-a-Service (CaaS), offering better security and control, as well highly sophisticated call detail and intelligent routing tools. Thing5 is currently providing services for thousands of hotel properties and tens of millions of calls per month. For more information, visit http://www.thing5.com.