Liberty Lake, Washington-based smart grid meter firm Itron has acquired a developer of smart grid communications products, SmartSynch, the firm said Wednesday. Itron said it will pay $100M to acquire SmartSynch, which was venture backed by Kinetic Ventures, JP Morgan, Battelle Ventures, Nth Power, GulfSouth Capital, Endeavor Capital Management, Siemens Venture Capital, Lime Rock Partners, Innovation Valley Partners and Cinergy Ventures. SmartSynch's technology is used to provide communications between smart meters and utilities via a cellular network. Itron was advised by Centerview Partners in the deal, with SmartSynch getting advisory services from Stephens Inc.