M&A dynamics in ICT
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M&A activity up
 Companies
will target faster-growing emerging markets along with small
and medium-sized businesses to offset slower US spending
growth, IDC predicted, and in some cases they will need
to make acquisitions to launch into promising sectors. Frank
Gens, IDC's senior vice president of research, said Web
search leader Google Inc could cement its position in the
small and medium-sized business market with an acquisition
of Salesforce.com or Intuit Inc, two companies with strong
Web-based business applications. "Google wants a beachhead
into the small, medium-sized business market," said
Gens, who expects such businesses to increase spending by
8 percent to 10 percent next years. IDC analysts accurately
predicted last year that major software firms like Oracle
Corp and SAP AG would acquire business intelligence software
makers like Hyperion Solutions and Business Objects. IDC
sees big software makers targeting business application
firms in emerging markets such as Brazil's Datasul, China's
Kingdee and India's 3i Infotech Ltd. A foothold in those
markets will be crucial since IDC sees tech spending in
Brazil, Russia, India, China and nine other emerging countries,
including Poland and Mexico, growing 16 percent in 2008.
IDC also predicts U.S. mobile phone operators will follow
in the footsteps of Verizon Wireless, which announced last
month plans to open its network to any phone or software
by the end of 2008. IDC also sees Microsoft Corp and International
Business Machines Corp jumping fully into the market for
Web-delivered software, putting them increasingly into competition
with Google and even networking giant Cisco Systems Inc.
Cisco will use its WebEx videoconferencing technology as
a platform to offer a variety of Web-delivered services
targeted at businesses, according to IDC.
Citrix, BMC Software, Novell, Lawson and Symantec are names
that could disappear this year as independent companies,
says the 451 Group. There is plenty of cash in the bank
with Microsoft, Dell and Oracle. The market researchers
have drawn up a list of potential pray. Next the names already
mentioned also Tibco and Informatica were referred to together
with a number of niche players especially in the field of
online backup and compliance.
 In
Europe there is only one player that really counts as worldwide
class and that is SAP in the field enterprise software applications
and ERP systems. Eventually the seemingly endless streak
of acquisitions must slow down in the software corner 451Group
predicts. In the end only 4 big boys will remain as main
market players and executors of the mega deals: IBM, Oracle,
SAP and Microsoft.
That is what 451 Group says, but aren't they forgetting
Google?
The European ICT service providers are engaging with strategic
partners in order to create sufficient access to human resources
and market presence in new territories like CEE and Asia
incl. Australia. We predict that the Telecom operators will
be important drivers in taking over larger and midsize ICT
infrastructure related service companies including multifunctional
data centers. We will see more strategic buyers and less
private equity. Also more cross border deals and a bigger
(partially undisclosed) deal flow in smaller and midsize
enterprises. European companies are not yet affected by
Asian buyers as 2008 is seen as a break through year.
Hot Sectors in 2007/ 2008
Hot sectors for Q4-2007 included:
- Internet (commerce, advertising, content, social sites,
games, communications, speech, search, and new business
models)
- networking and Infrastructure
- Wireless/Mobile
- Software as a Service
- Vertical Markets, especially healthcare, transportation,
government and engineering
- IT Services
- Geospatial technologies, mapping, and navigation
- Security
- Learning and Talent Management
Transaction highlights 2007/ 2008
Mega Deals in 2007
 There
were as many multi-billion dollar deals inked in the first
five months of this year as there were during the same five-month
periods from 2002 to 2006 - collectively. During the third
quarter, this phenomenon slowed considerably and the fourth
quarter picked up again. Deal announcements over a billion
dollars in disclosed value during the fourth quarter included:
- Nokia is buying Navteq - $8.1 billion
- SAP AG is acquiring Business Objects S.A - $6.8 billion
- Danaher Corporation is acquiring Tektronix - $2.8 billion
- Dell is acquiring EqualLogic - $1.4 billion
- IBM is acquiring Cognos - $5 billion
- Activision, Inc. and Vivendi combine - $18.9 billion
- Macrovision Corporation is acquiring Gemstar-TV Guide
- $2.8 billion
- Naspers Ltd., is acquiring Tradus - $1.91 billion
- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is acquiring Northgate
Information Solutions
- $1.8 billion
Most active buyers:
- AOL - Yedda, Quigo Systems
- Autodesk - Robobat, Hanna Strategies
- Cisco - Securent, Navini Networks
- Dell - EqualLogic, Everdream, The Networked Storage
Company
- DirectPointe - TechnologyWorks, Sweet Spot Solutions,
iTOK
- Electronic Arts - Super Computer International, BioWare,
Pandemic Studios
- EMC - Berkeley Data Systems, Voyence, Document Sciences
- Google - Zingku, Jaiku
- HP - Atos Origin Middle East, EYP Mission Critical Facilities,
MacDermid
- IBM - NovusCG, Cognos, Arsenal Digital Solutions
- Intuit - Homestead Technologies, Electronic Clearing
House
- Macrovision - Gemstar-TV Guide, All Media Guide Holdings
- McAfee - SafeBoot, ScanAlert
- Microsoft - Global Care Solutions, Musiwave SA, Multimap,
WebFives, Jellyfish.com
- Nokia - Navteq, Avvenu
- Nuance - Viecore, Commissure, Vocada
- Oracle - Castek Software (i-flex), LogicalApps, Interlace
Systems, Moniforce
- PurePay - CybrCollect, Netvantage
- Qualcomm - SoftMax, Firethorn Holdings
- Quest Software - Provision Networks, PassGo Technologies
- SAP - Business Objects, YASU Technologies
- SunGard - DSPA Software, The ASTEC Group
 International M&A Markets
 The
current M&A boom has been driven in part by the inexorable
trend toward globalization. Savy executives know domestic
acquisitions are easier to execute and present less risk,
but globalization is often essential. We are still seeing
tremendous cross-border deal activity as companies continue
to view M&A as a key strategy for revenue growth and
expansion via geographic reach. Companies increasingly have
global ambitions and the confidence and the wherewithal
to execute foreign acquisitions both large and small. The
strength of overseas currencies and the slowdown of the
once bullish U.S. economy contributed to a flow of money
into international companies in the billion-dollar price
range.
Inbound overseas acquisitions of U.S. targets are enhanced
by the weak dollar and are expected to drive more activity
and may help offset other potential declines in M&A
volume this year. U.S. companies and assets hold particular
appeal for foreign investors wanting to diversify their
investment portfolios, and the role of sovereign wealth
funds can't be ignored as they emerge more frequently in
deals. But the cross-border M&A trend has been growing
longer than these issues have been in the headlines. European
deal volume hit a record $1.96 trillion and accounted for
43% of worldwide deal volume. (For those keeping track,
U.S. deal volume accounted for 32%). It also marked a 34%
increase from last year's record total and only the second
time that European deal volume has surpassed U.S. deal volume.
And while U.S. deal volume fell off 44% in the second half
of 2007, European deal volume shrank just 14%. Asia deserves
a nod as well. Deal volume there hit $714 billion, yet another
record and up 24% from last year. In Thomson's financial
annual dealmaker survey, investment professionals are increasingly
looking at cross-border deals.
 While
46% of respondents have not done a cross-border transaction
in the last year, 46% believe that they will be doing a
cross-border deal in the next six months, with 20% saying
it is somewhat likely, and 26% saying it is very likely.
Canada (61%), China (48%), and Western Europe (42%), are
the areas in which they are most likely to be involved.
The longer the consolidation boom lasts, the deeper the
search. A further consequence of the intense competition
now being experienced in the search for quality deals is
that buyers are looking further afield for acquisition opportunities.
Examples of international deals we tracked during the fourth
quarter by country include:
Canada:
- BSM Technologies Inc (Canada) is acquiring Netistix
Technologies Corp, a developer of web-based fleet monitoring
software. BSM Technologies is a provider of high security
vehicle tracking and surveillance solutions.
- IBM is acquiring Cognos Inc. (Canada), snapping up the
last major independent maker of business intelligence
software.
- Cytiva Software Inc (Canada), mid-market recruiting
software provider, agreed to acquire One45 Software Inc
(Canada), a developer of medical education software.
- Solarsoft Business Systems (Canada) is acquiring VantagePoint
Systems.
- VantagePoint develops business software for packaging
manufacturing companies and provides complete implementation,
product support, and technical services to its customers.
- Sierra Systems Group Inc., a Golden Gate Capital portfolio
company and leading information technology and management
consulting services company, is acquiring privately held
RIS, Inc. (Canada), a top provider of applications support
and maintenance services.
- Constellation Software Inc. (Canada) has acquired Systems
& Software Incorporated.
- TECSYS Inc. (Canada), an industry-leading supply chain
management software company, acquired Streamline Information
Systems Ltd, a developer of enterprise software and a
leading Canadian softwaresupplier in the industrial distribution
sector.
- Adknowledge has acquired Cubics, Inc.(Canada), the first
online advertising network created to focus on the Facebook
developer community.
- Softchoice Corporation (Canada), provider of technology
solutions and services, has taken the next step in implementing
its growth strategy by acquiring Software Plus, the largest
corporate reseller of computer software in the U.S. Midwest
and the industry's ninth largest Microsoft Large Account
Reseller.
Austria:
- IDENTEC SOLUTIONS' (Austria) recent acquisition of Wtek
(Norway), a global leader in providing active RFID solutions
in the workplace, sets the stage for IDENTEC SOLUTIONS'
entry into the growing sector of worker safety and security.
Denmark:
- SurfRay, a developer and distributor of technology that
makes it possible to search structured, semi-structured
and unstructured data in real time, is acquiring Mondosoft,
a developer of enterprise search, analytics and site optimization
products.
Finland:
- Nokia Corp. (Finland) is buying U.S. navigation software
maker Navteq Corp. and is gaining a stronghold in the
navigation business.
- Google has acquired Finland startup Jaiku, which makes
a mobile phone application people can use to send short
messages.
 France:
- Bull has acquired Serviware (France), a company specializing
in high-performance computing solutions integration.
- InfoVista, a service-centric performance management
software vendor, is acquiring France-based privately held
Accellent, whose application network monitoring solutions
are used by large French and international organizations
to ensure the delivery of mission-critical and revenue
generating services.
- Microsoft is acquiring Musiwave SA (France), an Openwave
company and a leading provider of mobile music entertainment
services to operators and media companies.
- Autodesk, Inc. is acquiring Robobat, a privately held
company based in France that specializes in analysis,
design, and steel and concrete detailing software for
the structural engineering industry.
- GL TRADE (France), provider of front-toback office software
solutions for financial institutions, acquired Decision
Software, provider of a fixed income trading platform.
- Generix (France), software publisher for the retail
sector, acquired Infolog Solutions, a supply chain expert.
- Meetic (France) agreed to acquire Neu.de GmbH, a Cologne-based
Internet service provider.
- Activision, Inc. and Vivendi (France) announced that
they will combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive
entertainment business, with Activision.
- BT is reinforcing its presence in France by acquiring
IT service company Net2S.
- StepStone (Norway), provider of Total Talent solutions,
acquired Sourcea.fr, a French niche market job board focused
on telesales, banking, marketing and secretarial services.
Germany:
- eBay Inc. has acquired ViA-Online GmbH, a leading auction
management software company in Germany that operates Afterbuy.com
to enable professional trading on eBay.de and other online
marketplaces.
- Air2Web, Inc. and MindMatics AG (Germany) have agreed
to merge. The transaction firmly establishes the combined
organization in the global pure-play mobile marketing
arena.
- Zebra announced that it has extended its presence in
the growing field of real-time location with the acquisition
of RFID provider proveo AG (Germany).
- Collexis Holdings, Inc., a developer of highdefinition
search and discovery software, has acquired its long-time
development partner, SyynX Solutions, a privately held
software company.
- PTC, (Parametric Technology Corp), is acquiring CoCreate
Software GmbH, a provider of PLM and CAD modeling solutions.
- Cordys, a provider of Business Process Management technology,
acquired abaXX Technology AG (Germany), a provider of
BPM and vertical industry process-enabled solutions.
- DivX, Inc. has acquired MainConcept AG (Germany), a
leading provider of H.264 and other high-quality video
technologies for the broadcast, film, consumer electronics
and computer software markets.
- Captaris, Inc., a provider of software products that
automate document-centric processes, is acquiring Oce
Document Technologies GmbH, a provider of software and
solutions for document capture, text recognition and document
classification.
The Netherlands:
- McAfee acquired mobile encryption provider SafeBoot
NV (Netherlands).
- ING DIRECT USA (part of Netherlands based ING) acquired
ShareBuilder Corporation, a privately held Seattle-based
online financial services company.
- Irdeto (The Netherlands), provider of content security
for digital TV, IPTV and mobile and a subsidiary of multi-national
media group Naspers, has acquired ©Cloakware, a privately
held software company.
- Royal Philips Electronics (The Netherlands) will acquire
U.S.-based Emergin, Inc., provider of software utilized
to rapidly transmit medical alarm signals throughout hospitals.
- Eclipsys Corporation, as part of its strategy to expand
and enhance content integration in Sunrise Knowledge-Based
Charting and its other Sunrise Clinical Manager integrated
solutions, has sold its Clinical Practice Model Resource
Center business to Elsevier.
- Securitas Systems has acquired Installerende Partners.
Installerende Partners has more than 20 years of experience
in the security industry and is a supplier of integrated
security and IP satellite services.
Norway:
- Vizrt Ltd. and Escenic AS (Norway) agreed to merge to
create a strong player in the content management market.
- IDENTEC SOLUTIONS' (Austria) recent acquisition of Wtek
(Norway), a global leader in providing active RFID solutions
in the workplace, sets the stage for IDENTEC SOLUTIONS'
entry into the growing sector of worker safety and security.
- StepStone (Norway), provider of Total Talent solutions,
acquired Sourcea.fr, a French niche market job board focused
on telesales, banking, marketing and secretarial services.
Sweden:
- Dolby Laboratories is acquiring Coding Technologies
AB (Sweden), a privately held provider of audio compression
technologies for the mobile, digital broadcast, and Internet
markets.
- Interoute (UK) acquired Swedish Internet communications
and managed services specialist pi.se.
- BAE Systems is acquiring Pitch Technologies AB (Sweden),
an innovator of computer-based training and research simulation
technologies.
Switzerland:
- Logitech International (Switzerland) is acquiring WiLife,
Inc., which offers an affordable, easy-to-set-up, easy-to-use
PCbased video solution for self-monitoring a home or smaller
business.
- INFICON (Switzerland), a manufacturer of instrumentation
and process control software for the semiconductor and
vacuum-coating industries and other industrial applications,
announced it hasacquired Sigma Instruments Inc., a manufacturer
of instrumentation for the measurement and control of
thin film processes.
UK:
- Interoute (UK) acquired Swedish Internet communications
and managed services specialist pi.se.
- Autonomy Corp PLC (UK) agreed to acquire Meridio Holdings
Ltd, a developer of eDRM software.
- Satyam Computer Services Ltd of India is acquiring Nitor
Global Solutions Ltd, a UKbased provider of computer and
software consulting services.
- Synchronica plc (UK), an international vendor of mobile
synchronization and device management software, has acquired
the assets of U.S. mobile email specialist GoodServer.
- Harvey Nash (UK), a global search and professional talent
solutions firm, acquired TechDiscovery, LLC, an IT solutions
and consulting firm.
- PTC (Parametric Technology) has acquired Logistics Business
Systems (LBS), an integrated logistics support solutions
provider to the aerospace, defense and civil aviation
industries.
- DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the Dubai International
Financial Centre (DIFC), is acquiring SmartStream Technologies,
the UK-based software licensing and professional services
business from TA Associates, SmartStream management and
employees.
- Capital Markets Technologies has acquired a 55% equity
stake in iBase Solutions Limited, a UK-based financial
solutions company specializing in optimizing posttrade
processes for financial institutions.
- MicroEdge, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Advent
Software and provider of solutions for the grant making
community worldwide, has acquired Vivid OrangeLimited
(UK). Vivid Orange is a provider of corporate community
involvement and employee giving technology in the UK.
- Quest Software, Inc. is acquiring PassGo Technologies
Limited (UK), a privately held provider of access and
identity management solutions.
- Microsoft Corp. has acquired Multimap, a UK online mapping
company to enhance its existing Windows Live web-based
services.
- Africa's top media group, Naspers Ltd. (South Africa),
is acquiring UK-based Internet auction firm Tradus to
extend its reach into central and Eastern Europe.
- Dell is acquiring The Networked Storage Company (UK),
an IT consultancy that specializes in transitioning customers
to proven, simplified and cost-efficient IT data storage
solutions.
Israel:
- AOL announced that it has acquired Yedda, Inc. (Israel),
a leading semantic social search Questions and Answer
service.
China:
- Yucheng Technologies Limited's wholly owned subsidiary,
Beijing Yuxinyicheng Technologies, acquired Recency Technology
Limited, a provider of business intelligence solution
and consulting services to banks in China.
- Spreadtrum Communications, Inc., one of China's leading
wireless baseband chipset providers, is acquiring Quorum
Systems, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company that specializes
in the design of highly integrated CMOS radio frequency
(RF) transceivers.
- International mobile games publisher Glu Mobile Inc.
is acquiring Beijing Zhangzhong MIG Information Technology
Co. Ltd., a Chinese company that also publishes games
for the mobile market.
India:
- Satyam Computer Services Ltd of India is acquiring Nitor
Global Solutions Ltd, a UKbased provider of computer and
software consulting services.
" Fortis Financial Services Ltd (India) which is
a substantial stakeholder of Asian CERC Information Technology
Ltd., a capital market software provider, has acquired
Capital Market Solutions Pvt Ltd. (Australia), a software
company providing solutions and services to financial
markets.
Mexico:
- Hildebrando (Mexico), a leader in application development,
business intelligence and systems integration outsourcing
solutions, has acquired Sinapsis Technologies, the Americas'
leader of Captive Center Services.
Ukraine:
- Oberon Media (Ukraine), the provider of multi-platform
casual-games company, has significantly expanded its Eastern
European presence by acquiring Kenjitsu, a Nikitova-affiliated
outsourcing studio.
Australia:
- Avnet, Inc. has acquired ChannelWorx Pty Ltd, a networking
and security value-added distributor, is known in the
market as a leader in security and networking.
- RuleBurst Limited, a leader in software solutions to
prevent, detect and cure breaches in legislation, policy
and business rules, acquired U.S.-based Haley Systems.
The acquisition merges two global leaders of natural language
business rules management software.
- General Dynamics has acquired Mediaware International
Pty Ltd. (Australia), a leading developer of real-time
full-motion compressed digital video processing software
and systems for defense, intelligence and commercial customers.
- Fortis Financial Services Ltd (India) which is a substantial
stakeholder of Asian CERC Information Technology Ltd.,
a capital market software provider, has acquired Capital
Market Solutions Pvt Ltd. (Australia), a software company
providing solutions and services to financial markets
in Asia Pacific and the UK.
- Radiant Systems, Inc. is acquiring Quest Retail Technology
(Australia), a global provider of point-of-sale and back
office solutions to stadiums, arenas, convention centers,
race courses, theme parks, restaurants, bars and clubs.
- Pitney Bowes acquires Encom, a leading reseller of Pitney
Bowes MapInfo location intelligence technology for many
years, with a particular focus on the mining and drilling
industries.
- CommQuest Ltd is acquiring Next Digital Group Pty Ltd,
a digital marketing services provider. Next Digital Group
Pty Ltd, based in Australia, provides digital marketing
services.
Latest deals Q1/Q2 2008
 Deal
volumes slowed considerably the last weeks of Q1. Of note,
the Bain/Huawei/ 3Com deal has been put on the back burner
for now due to regulatory issues. We will look for a restructured
deal in the near future that will limit Huawei's (China)
access to some critical U.S.-related Ethernet technologies.
In the biggest announced deal last week, BMC's planned acquisition
of BladeLogic is its largest purchase since it paid $900
million for Boole and Babbage a decade ago. Combined with
other recent purchases, the BladeLogic acquisition gives
BMC's products greater reach for automating functions across
the IT spectrum, from individual employee computers to the
behind-the-scenes server-filled data centers. The announcement
follows competitor HP's $1.6 billion purchase of Opsware
last July, which had been a BladeLogic competitor in the
data center automation sector.
Deal highlights for the week of March
17 include:
BMC Software to acquire BladeLogic
BMC Software is acquiring BladeLogic, provider of data
center automation. When completed, the BladeLogic acquisition
will add a significant, high-growth revenue stream to
BMC, accelerating the company's long-term growth expectations
for revenues, earnings and cash flow. Analysts say BMC
made a strategic acquisition that rounds out a gap in
its product line-up. This also gives BMC a key weapon
against the much larger HP, which last year bought Opsware,
another leading maker of software that helps automate
server management, among other things. This acquisition
will combine BMC's BSM platform with BladeLogic's award-winning
data center automation solutions. BladeLogic is the fastest
growing company in the fastest growing segment of IT management
software.
Announcement Date: March 17, 2008
Deal Value: $800 Million (Cash on $71.35 million ttm)
Lawson Software acquires Freeborders
Lawson Software has acquired the Product Lifecycle Management
(PLM) software division of Freeborders. With this acquisition,
Lawson will deepen its enterprise software offerings for
companies in the fashion industry. Freeborders will retain
its existing technology outsourcing services, which are
not included in Lawson's acquisition. PLM helps fashion
manufacturing companies more quickly source the materials
they need to move a product from design to production.
By adding PLM capabilities to its portfolio of enterprise
software offerings, Lawson can now help companies establish
processes that will enable them to cut the lead time from
product concept to production to actual delivery to the
retail store shelf.
Announcement Date: March 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Vector Capital to acquire Captaris
Vector Capital, a leading private equity firm specializing
in the technology industry, is acquiring Captaris, provider
of computer software products that automate document-centric
business processes. Vector Capital is the largest shareholder
in Captaris, with a 10 percent stake in the company. Other
down-on-their-luck technology brands Vector has recently
acquired include Register.com, SafeNet, WatchGuard Technologies
and WinZip. Most recently, Vector had acquired the application
performance management business of security software maker
Symantec.
Announcement Date: March 17, 2008
Deal Value: $126.8 Million
SAS acquires Teragram
 SAS,
a leader in business intelligence (BI) and advanced analytics,
acquired Teragram, provider of natural language processing
(NLP) and advanced linguistic technology that use the
meaning of text to distill relevant information from vast
amounts of data. The acquisition will enhance SAS' own
robust text mining and analytical BI offerings, and extend
them to enterprise and mobile search. SAS believes the
addition of Teragram's domain expertise and NLP technology
will change the landscape of the BI and analytics markets.
Teragram's technologies augment, strengthen and extend
SAS' ability to combine structured and unstructured data
- not only in its text mining solution but embedded across
the entire SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform.
Announcement Date: March 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
360i acquires i33
360i, an independent digital agency and a subsidiary
of Innovation Interactive LLC, has acquired award-winning
digital design, development and marketing firm i33 communications.
The move bolsters 360i's existing capabilities and further
enhances the agency's ability to create integrated and
measurable interactive marketing solutions for major brand
marketers. i33 brings strong expertise in creating user
experiences online, including design and development of
social media applications, widgets, Web sites, rich media
experiences and more for entertainment and retail clients.
Announcement Date: March 17, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
MobiVentures acquires Move2Mobile
MobiVentures Inc., provider of high quality mobile applications,
content and services, is acquiring Move2Mobile (U.K.),
a mobile and wireless business accelerator. Move2Mobile
provides services to early stage businesses to support
their product and business development, and entry into
the market. In return for its services, Move2Mobile receives
its payment primarily in stock in the respective companies
and as a result holds equity interests in 12 early stage
companies in the mobile sector. Move2Mobile's ownership
position in each of its portfolio companies ranges from
a small equity interest to 20%. MobiVentures will now
have greater access to a broad scope of businesses in
the mobile space, which include a secure SMS technology
company, a mobile polling and voting, mobile fraud prevention
and several other mobile focused technology businesses.
Announcement Date: March 18, 2008
Deal Value: $4.2 Million
Progress acquires Xcalia
 Progress
Software acquired Xcalia, a leader in the development
and adoption of the SDO standard and data integration
technologies. Xcalia is now part of Progress' DataDirect
Technologies operating company. Xcalia is a member of
several international standards committees including JSR
317 (JPA2) and JSR 235 (SDO 3 for JavaTM) within the Java
Community Process. The company is also an active member
of the OASIS and Open SOA consortiums contributing to
the Service Data Objects (SDO 1, 2 and 3) and Data Access
Service (DAS) specifications. Additionally, Xcalia spearheaded
JDO and worked on EJB 3 standards. Along with IBM, BEA,
Oracle and SAP, Xcalia has been an instrumental part of
the development of SDO and DAS. Xcalia has one of the
most mature implementations of these technologies on the
market.
Announcement Date: March 18, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Liaison Technologies acquires Contivo
Liaison Technologies, Inc. a global data management and
business-to-business integration services provider, has
acquired Contivo, Inc., a provider of application independent
automated data transformation (or mapping) software. The
deal comes on the heels of Liaison's recent announcement
of its merger with Anilinker, a European integration services
company. The addition of Contivo brings a wealth of strategic
technology, intellectual property, and expert resources
to Liaison's organization. The company plans to leverage
this innovative technology to help customers' create,
migrate, and own their own business-critical maps, no
matter what integration platform they select.
Announcement Date: March 18, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
LiveWire Mobile acquires Groove Mobile
 LiveWire
Mobile, Inc., a subsidiary of NMS Communications Corporation
and a global provider of managed personalization services
for mobile operators, acquired Groove Mobile, Inc., a
provider of mobile music solutions. The acquisition will
enable LiveWire Mobile to meet operators' growing demand
for a portfolio of managed services, including ringback
tones, ringtones, full-track music and video downloads,
delivered through an integrated storefront. This acquisition
represents a major milestone in solidifying LiveWire Mobile's
early leadership position in the large and rapidly growing
market for mobile personalization services. The acquisition
also provides LiveWire Mobile with the ability to manage
all music and video related content from an integrated
storefront to provide operators with a single managed
service and subscribers with a superior music experience.
Announcement Date: March 18, 2008
Deal Value: $14.5 Million
EDS acquires Nexagent
EDS has acquired the assets of Nexagent (U.K.), a provider
of hardware and software solutions for network service
provisioning and advanced IP-based services across multi-network
environments. Nexagent develops software tools that enable
carriers, systems integrators and virtual network operators
automate and accelerate the design, provisioning and management
of a client's IP VPN. This capability is particularly
valuable when the network connection spans multiple carriers
and multiple regions. This acquisition builds upon EDS'
ongoing investment in the company's networking services
capabilities and the EDS Global Services Network, one
of the world's highest capacity and most resilient private
networks. The GSN connects more than 500 EDS service delivery
sites worldwide to clients though a single, secure, fully
redundant network. Leveraging Nexagent's technology enables
EDS to automate and accelerate the design, transition
and operation of enterprise service delivery.
Announcement Date: March 19, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
RCM Technologies acquires NuSoft Solutions
RCM Technologies, Inc. acquired NuSoft Solutions, one
of the leading Microsoft consulting firms headquartered
in the Midwest, specializing in Enterprise Business and
Technology Solutions. NuSoft is a Microsoft Gold-Certified
Partner and Dell Partner with multiple centers of excellence
and sales locations. NuSoft provides its customers with
comprehensive enterprise solutions across numerous aspects
of the technology spectrum, including Business Intelligence,
Collaboration and Portals, Custom Application Development,
Education Systems, Embedded Expertise and Infrastructure
Design. By acquiring NuSoft, RCM has added a foundational
technology layer to its already strong and diverse Enterprise
Business Solutions Group, whose role includes being an
authorized sales agent and reseller for some of the world's
largest software firms.
Announcement Date: March 19, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Portrait Software acquires Million Handshakes
 Portrait
Software (U.K.), a provider of Customer Interaction Optimization
software, is acquiring Million Handshakes AS, a Norway-based
provider of outbound campaign management and dialog marketing
software. The acquisition brings to Portrait powerful
new marketing technology, around 100 new customers, and
a proven software-as-a-service (SaaS) capability. The
acquisition completes Portrait's marketing application
suite, which now delivers intelligent dialog for inbound
and outbound communications across all customer channels.
The integration with Portrait's best-of-breed customer
analytics makes it the first complete marketing applications
suite to be based on .NET, offering a compelling and fully
integrated marketing solution for applications across
all stages of the customer lifecycle.
Announcement Date: March 19, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Synopsys to buy Synplicity
Synopsys Inc., which makes semiconductor design and manufacturing
software, is acquiring Synplicity Inc., a supplier of
innovative field programmable gate array (FPGA) and IC
design and verification solutions that serve a wide range
of communications, military/aerospace, semiconductor,
consumer, computer, and other electronic applications
markets. When completed, the acquisition will significantly
expand Synopsys' technology portfolio, channel reach and
total addressable market. In addition to Synplicity's
solutions for FPGAs, Synopsys will gain a differentiated
rapid prototyping portfolio that complements its virtual
prototyping business. Combining Synplicity's hardware-based
rapid prototyping and Synopsys' software-based virtual
prototyping solutions will enable electronics companies
to meet tight market windows with proven designs, even
as software content continues to grow exponentially.
Announcement Date: March 20, 2008
Deal Value: $227 Million
ADLINK Technology is acquiring Ampro
ADLINK Technology is acquiring Ampro Computers Inc.,
a pioneer in the "embedded PC" industry. The
company originated the PC/104, PC/104-Plus, and EBX standards
for stackable single-board computers, co-created the popular
EPIC standard for highly compact full-function SBCs, and
more recently began offering a rapidly growing line of
computer-on-module (COM) products in ETX, XTX, and COM
Express formats. The acquisition, characterized as highly
synergistic by both companies' CEOs, merges Ampro's expertise
in board-level embedded computers with ADLINK's low-cost
manufacturing capabilities and products targeting the
industrial control and communications markets. ADLINK
will gain access to Ampro's expertise in developing 'extreme
rugged' board-level embedded computers, as well as its
strong and mature U.S. sales channel.
Announcement Date: March 21, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
 As
we wrap-up the first quarter of 2008, the global value of
announced M&A in the quarter was $715 billion, down
31 percent from the same period last year. It was the least
active first quarter since 2004 as banks reined in borrowing
and economic uncertainty weighed on CEO confidence. Europe
was the most targeted region for overall M&A, accounting
for nearly 40 percent of global deal volume so far this
year. M&A was not the only arena that was hit in the
first quarter of 2008. The slowing IPO market has also been
dampened by investors spooked by the credit crisis. One
of the bright spots in the first quarter (besides solid
levels of activity in Europe) was the commitment to M&A
by strategic buyers. Though Private Equity all but disappeared
in tech deals this past quarter, corporate devised strategies
and executed deals to further those missions.
Deal highlights for the week include:
Microsoft acquires Komoku
Microsoft hopes to beef up its security capabilities
with the acquisition of Komoku, a developer of rootkit
detection products. Komoku develops products that detect
rootkits, malicious software that can take control of
a computer in a way that often evades detection by other
anti-malware software. The company has served organizations
with high security requirements, such as the Department
of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Microsoft plans
to add Komoku's technology into its Forefront and Windows
Live OneCare products. Forefront is Microsoft's suite
of enterprise security software that includes malware
protection for PCs, security tools for Exchange and SharePoint
servers, and gateways that secure remote access to corporate
data. OneCare is a package of security software for PC
users that scans for viruses and spyware, backs up files
and helps with network management.
Announcement Date: March 21, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Cidron Services attempts to buy TietoEnator
 Cidron
Services Oy, a company indirectly owned by Nordic Capital
Fund VI, has made a cash tender offer for all shares and
stock options in TietoEnator Corporation, one of the largest
IT services providers in Europe. Cidron Services believes
that TietoEnator occupies an attractive position in the
IT Services market as a market leader in the Nordic region.
TietoEnator's excellent customer base built upon long-term
relationships with well-known companies and institutions
forms a solid foundation for the business and provides
future opportunities for growth and market share gains.
Furthermore, TietoEnator has a deep pool of talented employees
with strong vertical expertise. TietoEnator, however,
also faces various significant challenges. These challenges
require a successful completion, in a quicker pace, of
the restructuring program that has already been initiated.
This will be accomplished at the same time as TietoEnator
is facing increasing competition from global service providers
combined with a slowing market growth.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2008
Deal Value: $1.71 billion
L-1 Identity Solutions to acquire ID Systems Business
from Digimarc Corporation
L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of identity
solutions and services, is acquiring the ID Systems business
of Digimarc Corporation. L-1 believes that the combination
of L-1 and Digimarc's Secure ID business will bring significant
synergies and benefits to the identity management industry.
The combined security features will deliver best-in-class
protection to produce the most secure credentials possible
and the industry knowledge of the combined teams will
foster the development of superior next-generation security
functionality for future applications. The increased industry
knowledge and cross-border relationships will help secure
identities across the globe in emerging markets such as
Russia and Asia-Pacific, as well as with Canadian and
Mexican biometric credentialing programs. Leveraged synergies
between the businesses will reduce the cost structures
of both organizations to drive greater operational efficiency
and shareholder value.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2008
Deal Value: $250 Million
Data Call Technologies to acquire Podcast Ready
 Data
Call Technologies, Inc. is acquiring Podcast Ready, Inc.,
a software and Web services company whose products and
services permit the aggregation and distribution of audio
and video content directly to mobile and stationary devices.
Podcast Ready provides a unique set of software and content
services that facilitate the widespread adoption of podcasting,
making subscribing and listening to podcasts easier and
more portable. The acquisition would strengthen Data Call's
present business strategy of expanding its products and
services into fast growing markets complimentary to those
of Data Call's existing markets. The company believes
that the market for audio and video content provides tremendous
business opportunities and through this acquisition Data
Call reinforces its long-term commitments to emerging
new media markets. PRI has an existing infrastructure
through which it can provide advertisers with content
verification, enabling those advertisers to match their
ads with custom tailored content to specific demographics.
PRI's technological capabilities integrate easily into
Data Call's technology, products and services.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Crisp acquires IMSafer
Crisp (U.K.) has acquired IMSafer, a highly recognized
Internet child safety brand. Additionally, the U.S. headquarters
for Crisp has been established in Beaverton, Ore. The
overriding goals of both Crisp and IMSafer are to protect
children from online predators. Together, the companies
provide a unique proposition, which allows young people
the freedom to explore the Internet while giving parents
the peace of mind that their children are protected. The
IMSafer software identifies abusive and sexual concepts
and phrases and immediately informs parents of the inappropriate
sections of online conversations. This complements Crisp's
relationship analysis tools, which detect the increasingly
sophisticated grooming approaches utilized by more devious
predators in instant messaging (IM) chat. This acquisition
brings together the sector's two leading exponents of
proactive online child protection. It will allow Crisp
to create more robust and comprehensive child protection
systems, which will make it even harder for predators
to snare children through inappropriate online relationships.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Versata to acquire TenFold
Versata Enterprises, Inc., provider of enterprise business
solutions is acquiring TenFold Corporation, provider of
EnterpriseTenFold SOA, an SOA-compliant, Ajax-enabled
solutions framework for adding functionality to existing
applications and building enterprise-scale applications.
TenFold licenses its patented technology for applications
and services development, EnterpriseTenFold SOA, to organizations
that face the task of transforming obsolete applications
or building complex SOA-compliant applications. TenFold's
history of providing its customers and partners with significant
savings in development and maintenance complements Versata's
strategy of lowering customers' total cost of ownership
with solutions to accelerate development, reduce ongoing
maintenance, and drive business impact.
Announcement Date: March 24, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Aegis Communications is acquiring AOL Call Center Business
 AOL
is selling its call center business in India to Aegis
Communications, the unit of Essar Group. Aegis Communications
is known to have beaten Wipro among others for the deal.
The facility has 2,000 people, with 1,200 in the call
center, 500 in the BPO/KPO space, with the rest in software.
It handles technical support and customer service of clients
through dial-up or broadband. Aegis, which has approximately
10,000 people in call centers in India and the U.S., offers
CRM, database management, analytical and market intelligence,
customer care, tele-marketing, and help-desk services,
to telecoms and financial companies.
Announcement Date: March 25, 2008
Deal Value: $100 Million
ACS acquires Communications Development
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. has acquired Communications
Development, Inc., a provider of outsourced marketing,
consulting and advertising services to the transportation
industry. This acquisition strengthens ACS' position in
the transportation industry. In addition to building scale
and opening additional opportunities to provide incremental
BPO services to its existing clients, Communications Development
will enhance ACS' ability to compete for new business
from larger carriers. Communication Development's operations
will be consolidated with those of ACS Expedited Solutions,
providers of TripPak SERVICES (TM), a trucking document
delivery, processing, scanning, and storage solution,
and ACS MultiMedia Advertising. Together they will supply
marketing, advertising, and retention solutions tailored
to the unique needs of the long-haul trucking and transportation
market.
Announcement Date: March 25, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
SolidWorks acquires Priware
SolidWorks Corporation has acquired Priware Limited (U.K.),
a SolidWorks Gold Partner and developer of CircuitWorks
software, which bridges the gap between electronic CAD
and mechanical CAD software. CircuitWorks enables engineers
to accelerate and simplify electronic product design by
integrating ECAD files into their 3D models and 2D drawings.
The acquisition gives engineers around the world a platform
to integrate electronic and mechanical designs for the
millions of electronic products developed every year.
Previously, much of electronics development involved designing
the product to fit around the electronic components. SolidWorks
and CircuitWorks together let engineers design PCBs to
fit inside ever more stylized product frames, whether
an MP3 player or the dashboard of a new car. SolidWorks
and CircuitWorks combined let mechatronics engineers use
digital modeling to improve product quality, reduce prototyping
and streamline development.
Announcement Date: March 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Four Soft to merge into TAKE Solutions
 TAKE
Solutions and Four Soft Ltd. both leading providers of
IT products and solutions in the Supply Chain Management
space announced their intent to merge. The combination
will create a truly global, comprehensive company with
one of the largest product offerings in Supply Chain Management.
Four Soft has full service products/offerings for the
service provider segments. TAKE Solutions' product offerings
complement this very well on the enterprise side. Four
Soft Ltd. is the perfect addition to TAKE Solutions; its
strong presence in the U.S. and Asia Pacific markets complements
Four Soft's dominance in Europe and Japan.
Announcement Date: March 26, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Parallels acquires ModernGigabyte
Parallels has acquired ModernGigabyte, maker of the ModernBill
automated billing system and other hosting automation
solutions. ModernBill customers will benefit from Parallels
Open Platform initiatives such as the Application Packaging
Standard (APS), which will help them drive more revenue
from their existing clients. The acquisition provides
Parallels with a complete hosting control panel and billing
system for small- to medium-sized service providers and
hosting resellers that purchase dedicated servers with
pre-loaded software. Now, service providers can integrate
with over 15 popular control panels supported by ModernBill,
as well as special bundled offerings with the Parallels
Plesk Control Panel. The acquisition also opens up new
sales channels for software vendors that develop applications
based on the APS Standard, which will drive greater adoption
of SaaS solutions.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
3i Group to acquire Civica
U.K. buyout shop 3i Group plc, agreed to take software
provider Civica plc private. Civica, which develops and
services software for government and public sector projects,
said its hopes of leading consolidation in the sector
had been hampered by a lack of access to capital and disappointing
share price. Civica's customers are largely public sector
authorities in the U.K., Australia and Singapore. It has
grown organically and by acquisition, now employing about
1,300 people worldwide. The technology sector is a key
focus for 3i. Civica's business reflects 3i's global presence,
and the underlying organic growth prospects for Civica
remain strong. In addition, 3i said it was committed to
supporting Civica's acquisitive strategy and to continue
to build its international presence.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: $440 Million
Buzznet acquires Qloud
Buzznet, Inc., the social media community which has heavy
music content, has acquired Qloud, the social music Web
service. Qloud is backed by AOL Founder Steve Case. The
company, which has a small team of employees, went live
back in 2006 but experienced explosive growth with the
launch of the Facebook platform. There is no word on the
actual price of the acquisition price claims are that
it was a "little over their last round valuation."
Buzznet's most recent round of funding was reported yesterday
at $25 million.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
HP to acquire Tower Software
 HP
is acquiring Tower Software (Australia), a document and
records management software company. The deal will enable
HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic
discovery and compliance software market. The acquisition
of Tower will add electronic records management to HP
Software's existing e-discovery and compliance capabilities
in information collection and retention. This includes
both records management and identification, which have
become increasingly important for organizations due to
rules and regulations such as the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Data Protection
and Freedom of Information Acts. Combining HP's and Tower's
overall software capabilities will enable customers to
rapidly identify electronic business records from general
business communication, collect those business records
in a scalable and high-performance archive platform and
preserve them for long-term future use in legal discovery
or compliance activities.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
ANSYS to acquire Ansoft Corporation
ANSYS, Inc., a global innovator of simulation software
and technologies designed to optimize product development
processes, is acquiring Ansoft Corporation, a global provider
of Electronic Design Automation software. According to
the two companies, a strategic, complementary business
combination of ANSYS and Ansoft will create the leading
provider of 'best-in-class' simulation capabilities. Ansoft
is a developer of high-performance EDA software. The software
is based on more than 25 years of research and development
by world-renowned experts in electromagnetics, circuit
and system simulation. The acquisition of Ansoft is ANSYS'
first foray into the broader EDA software industry and
will enhance the breadth, functionality, usability and
interoperability of the combined ANSYS portfolio of engineering
simulation solutions. The combination is expected to increase
operational efficiency and lower design and engineering
costs for customers, and accelerate development and delivery
of new and innovative products to the marketplace.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: $832 Million
Pohlad Family of Companies acquires Avtex
The Pohlad family of companies has expanded its IT holdings
for with the addition of Avtex, Inc., a unified communications
solution provider. Avtex designs, installs and supports
technology needed for call centers and customer contact
centers, as well as IP telephony systems and other messaging
applications for businesses. The company has grown rapidly
by providing premise based and hosted unified communications
solutions that bring together telephone, email, text messaging
and call centers into a single, highly secure customer
contact system that transcends traditional phone and data
systems. Since 1998, Avtex has acquired five companies
to expand its services and geographic reach. Most recently
it acquired Perimeter Technology, expanding its southeast
operations. The acquisition also rounds out the three-pronged
IT strategy the Pohlad organization has been pursuing
in the managed services IT arena with its acquisitions
of Inetium in 2006 and Arcadia in 2007.
Announcement Date: March 31, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
It was very active the last weeks of May in terms of deals
with transactions in the U.S., Canada, Europe, India, and
Asia. Everyone saw the running headlines regarding HP's
major announced deal for EDS. Accenture, which has been
on the deal list consistently of late, made yet another
deal with another one to follow this week. And media giant
CBS Communications acquired Internet content favorite CNET
Networks.
 It
was Oracle's quiet deal in the insurance space, however,
that begs for a moment of attention. Although there have
been dozens of acquisitions in and around this space in
the past few years by financial and tactical investors,
this is the first time in recent years that a top global
software company has purchased a focused insurance software
company with the explicit goal of expanding its footprint
in the vertical. One author said "This acquisition
changes Oracle's 'permission to play' in the insurance software
space dramatically, and puts it into direct competition
with the traditional providers of insurance vertical applications."
Well said. Oracle is no stranger to this. It was 2005 when
Oracle employed the same tactic with the retail space when
it snapped up Retek. That action sparked a wide-scale consolidation
in the retail software space by rival SAP (Khimetrics, Triversity)
as well as firms like Epicor (NBS Retail), Red Prairie (BlueCube),
Oracle again with ProfitLogic and so on. It will be interesting
to see what currents have been kicked up for M&A in
insurance industry markets.
Deal highlights for the week of May 17
include:
DG FastChannel to acquire Enliven Marketing Technologies
DG FastChannel Inc is acquiring Enliven Marketing Technologies
Corp., a developer of Internet marketing software. The
incredible growth rates for online media, and specifically
rich media advertising, have taken the world by storm,
and brands and advertisers are seeking efficient solutions
that bridge the gulf between traditional and new media.
The merger will combine DG FastChannel's leadership in
traditional advertising and media distribution services
with Enliven's groundbreaking digital marketing technologies
for online, mobile and in-game advertising solutions.
The transaction firmly establishes DG FastChannel as a
full participant in the Internet and mobile advertising
space. As a combined entity, DG FastChannel and Enliven
will address the video market of the future more effectively,
and the business combination will enhance the prospects
of each company.
Announcement Date: May 8, 2008
Deal Value: $98 Million
Perot Systems acquires Original Solutions
 Perot
Systems Corporation has acquired Original Solutions Limited,
a professional IT services firm providing applications
development and management services to clients in Ireland
and the UK. Original Solutions' competencies include Web
applications and client server development, enterprise
integration and legacy systems re-engineering, as well
as significant expertise in IT Service Management and
IT Infrastructure Library process management. Based in
Limerick and Dublin, Ireland, Original Solutions employs
approximately 90 people and reported revenues of euro
9 million in 2007. Original Solutions strengthens Perot's
portfolio of services and capabilities in the Irish and
EMEA markets.
Announcement Date: May 12, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Trace Systems acquires TCP Network Solutions
Trace Systems Inc., a systems integrator and technical
services firm that provides comprehensive IT, communications,
and other C4ISR services and solutions for the U.S. defense,
homeland security, and intelligence community, acquired
TCP Network Solutions, Inc., a defense information technology
and communications solutions provider. The acquisition
of TCPNS is part of Trace's strategy to establish itself
as a contractor of choice within the Department of Defense.
TCP has established themselves as trusted leaders in the
Army communications and IT environment. TCPNS has been
the architect for many deployed C4 networks, providing
its customers with technical leadership and support, including
the design, integration and testing of next-generation
tactical communications and wireless networking solutions,
as well as ongoing IT and networking support for currently
deployed military and commercial tactical systems.
Announcement Date: May 12, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
HP to buy EDS
Hewlett-Packard Co. is buying Electronic Data Systems
Corp. in a deal that will create the second largest technology
services provider behind IBM. It's a field dominated by
IBM Corp., which generated $54 billion in revenue from
technology services last year. HP's technology services
revenue will more than double to more than $38 billion
with the addition of EDS, which had $22 billion in revenue
last year. Once the marriage is completed, HP estimates
it will have about a 7 percent share of the technology
service market compared with IBM's 10 percent share. The
deal will enable HP to leapfrog Fujitsu and Accenture
in the niche. To make sure the EDS takeover pays off,
HP indicated it will make significant layoffs as it eliminates
overlapping jobs and other expenses. The combined services
business would have 210,000 employees and operations in
more than 80 countries. It will retain the EDS brand and
EDS' Plano, Texas headquarters.
Announcement Date: May 12, 2008
Deal Value: $12.6 Billion
Oracle to buy AdminServer
 Oracle
is acquiring AdminServer, a rapidly growing provider of
insurance policy administration software. AdminServer's
product offering will become a core component of Oracle's
existing insurance industry software that is used by more
than one thousand insurers, including 20 of the top 20
global insurance companies. The AdminServer product line
will significantly accelerate Oracle's investment in the
insurance industry and be complemented by Oracle's existing
insurance products such as Oracle Billing, Siebel Claims
and Siebel CRM for Insurance. The combination of Oracle
and AdminServer will result in a comprehensive, end-to-end
insurance policy management solution that can manage multiple
insurance product lines such as life, annuities and reinsurance.
Additionally, AdminServer's management and employees will
form a dedicated global business unit within Oracle, which
will focus on providing critical operational applications
to the insurance industry.
Announcement Date: May 12, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
GlobalLogic acquired Dalian 3CIS
GlobalLogic Inc., provider of outsourced software product
engineering services, has expanded its reach in China
and acquired Dalian 3CIS, a China-based software development
company. GlobalLogic has raised nearly $50 million in
VC funding from firms like Sequoia Capital India, New
Atlantic Ventures and New Enterprise Associates. Dalian
3CIS joins GlobalLogic's existing development center in
Beijing in helping software product companies accelerate
their time to market. The acquisition is part of GlobalLogic's
overall strategy to build and retain the world's best
software R&D engineers and help its technology clients
enter new markets. GlobalLogic's Beijing software delivery
center was established in November 2007. It specializes
in developing software products for the telecommunications,
mobile, business and consumer internet, and embedded technology
markets.
Announcement Date: May 13, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
SOA Software acquired LogicLibrary
SOA Software Inc., provider of SOA and Web services management,
security and governance solutions, has acquired LogicLibrary,
an SOA repository and governance vendor. This acquisition
combines two recognized leaders, creating a dominant SOA
Governance company with an impressive customer base. LogicLibrary
focuses on SOA Development Governance with a best-of-breed
enterprise repository providing broad support and governance
for development assets /services and deep integration
and federation with IDEs and application development point
solutions. The combination of the two companies creates
the most comprehensive Integrated SOA Governance Automation
solution that spans all lifecycle stages and governance
types from Planning to Development, Policy, and through
Operational Governance.
Announcement Date: May 13, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Accenture to acquire Origin Digital
 Accenture
is acquiring Origin Digital, Inc., provider of rich video
capture, transformation and delivery services to content
owners. The digital market has reached critical mass,
and bandwidth is now both affordable and economical, driving
a revolution in digital media and creating challenges
and exciting opportunities for Accenture's clients. Origin
Digital is well established in the digital media supply
chain and has a number of Fortune 500 companies in its
client portfolio that are also Accenture clients. The
acquisition will expand Accenture's ability to help clients
grow their digital media revenue through Origin Digital's
specialized expertise in reaching new customers via mobile,
broadband, IPTV and video-on-demand services. The addition
of Origin Digital video capabilities to Accenture's Digital
Media Services group will also complement the experience
it developed in music through our acquisition of Digiplug
last year.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
smartFOCUS acquires ASTECH InterMedia
smartFOCUS, the international provider of multi-channel
marketing software headquartered in the UK, has acquired
ASTECH InterMedia, a leader in data-driven marketing solutions
for the news media industry, headquartered in the U.S.
The company, founded in 1992, supports the strategic data-driven
marketing initiatives of more than 200 newspapers worldwide.
Its innovative marketing solutions include a variety of
consulting and education services, application-specific
software and data products. The acquisition enables smartFOCUS
to consolidate its international presence in the news
media industry, adding over 200 ASTECH clients to the
smartFOCUS European news media client portfolio, positioning
smartFOCUS as a leader in this key vertical market.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
More Mobile buys 12snap Lokomobil
More Mobile Relations (Norway), the Telenor subsidiary's
major investment in mobile marketing, is acquiring 12snap-Lokomobil
(Sweden). The aim is a substantial expansion in the Nordic
market with a clear leadership role. More Mobile Relations
is growing fast and is already the largest mobile marketing
company in the Nordic region with over 30 employees. In
March 2008, the company bought Active Loop Marketing in
Norway and N'volve in Denmark. The Telenor Group is founder
and shareholder of More, but More is an independent company
which provides operator-independent services. The company
is now moving into Sweden with the purchase of 12snap-Lokomobil.
12snap-Lokomobil was launched in 2002, and has already
achieved highly-acclaimed campaigns for major organizations,
including Pepsi and ATG. In the past, SMS campaigns were
the main focus, but the company is now adopting multi-media
solutions such as MMS and mobile sites.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
eFuture acquires Wangku Hutong Information Technology
eFuture Information Technology Inc, a provider of front-end
supply chain management software and services in China,
has acquired a majority of Wangku Hutong Information Technology
Co., Ltd., an e-commerce company in China with a focus
on the retail and fast-moving consumer goods industries.
With the acquisition, eFuture looks to deepen its relationship
with Wangku and continuing to pioneer e-commerce services
in China's rapidly growing retail and fast-moving consumer
goods industries. In April 2008, eFuture and Wangku launched
a B2B Website platform for small- to medium-size suppliers
and retailers. The online platform provides a searchable
database of subscriber-posted listings focusing on the
retail and consumer goods industries with the goal of
helping both China's local and overseas suppliers enter
into retail stores across China.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
McKesson acquires Vivalog
 McKesson
has acquired Vivalog LLC, a provider of Web-based solutions,
including its MyPACS.net medical imaging reference site,
that enable radiologists, cardiologists, and other imaging
specialists to efficiently organize and share image and
reference case information needed during daily practice.
This portfolio extends current hospital imaging and information
management systems with reference case management and
clinical conferencing capabilities that result in rich,
multimedia knowledge repositories to assist in diagnostics
as well as research and training. With this solution,
imaging specialists will be able to spend fewer hours
each week preparing for rounds and conferences, freeing
up more time for patient care and revenue-generating activities.
Furthermore, this solution offers a constantly growing
decision support resource which allows imaging specialists
to efficiently look up reference cases when deciding on
a diagnosis, helping to reduce diagnostic errors.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Comcast to acquire Plaxo
Comcast Corp. is buying contact management company Plaxo
Inc. and plans to incorporate into all its offerings features
intended to help people synchronize their address books
and connect socially online.
The Philadelphia-based cable company said social networking
and other services will be added to its Comcast.net, Fancast.com
and Fandango.com Web sites. Cable subscribers eventually
will also be able to access the services through their
set-top boxes and other devices. Comcast management thinks
the combination of Plaxo and Comcast together can supercharge
both company's products and is looking at Plaxo to become
the social media backbone of its products. Both companies
hope to expand their services across different devices.
Announcement Date: May 14, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
OpSec Security acquires P4M GmbH
OpSec Security, Inc., a division of OpSec Security Group
plc (UK) and provider of anti-counterfeiting technologies,
software and services, acquired P4M GmbH (Germany), provider
of services for the protection and management of products,
brands, and channels on the Internet. P4M's enables brand
owners to detect illegal distribution of digital media,
identify counterfeit and gray market goods on e-commerce
sites, and measure online brand image and customer satisfaction.
The acquisition of P4M extends OpSec's capabilities in
three fast-growing areas online: anti-piracy to protect
unauthorized distribution of digital content, brand monitoring
to provide customer and market intelligence, and channel
management to optimize online sales strategies. The combined
company will provide the industry's most comprehensive
solution for integrated physical and online brand protection
across the entire enterprise lifecycle.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
CBS Corporation to acquire CNET Networks
 CBS
Corporation is acquiring CNET Networks, Inc. CNET Networks
owns many of the Internet's leading entertainment, news
and information sites including CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot.com,
TV.com, mp3.com, CNET news.com, UrbanBaby, CHOW, Search.com,
BNET, MySimon and TechRepublic. The acquisition will make
CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the
U.S., with a combined 54 million unique users per month,
and approximately 200 million users worldwide. CNET Networks
will add a tremendous platform to extend CBS' complementary
entertainment, news, sports, music and information content
to a whole new global audience. Together, CBS and CNET
Networks will have significant additional exposure to
the fastest-growing advertising sector and can accelerate
growth through a number of new content, promotion and
advertising initiatives.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: $1.75 Billion
Ask.com to acquire Lexico
Ask.com, a search engine and wholly-owned business of
IAC, is acquiring Lexico Publishing Group LLC - the owner
of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com, and Reference.com. More
than half a billion monthly worldwide searches consist
of dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia queries, according
to comScore.
The Lexico acquisition will grow the Ask Network user
base to more than 145 million unduplicated monthly unique
users (UUs) worldwide, an increase of 11%, according to
March 2008 comScore data. This would rank the Ask Network
as the 9th largest Web property in the world - ahead of
Apple Inc. and Facebook - in monthly worldwide UUs (comScore
World Metrix, March 2008). Ask.com and Lexico's demographics
are nearly identical, creating strong potential for cycling
traffic between both companies' user bases. Lexico is
a lean and fast-growing business with rapid top- and bottom-
line growth, and is a natural addition for Ask.com.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Mentor Graphics acquires Ponte Solutions
Mentor Graphics Corporation has acquired the assets of
Ponte Solutions, Inc., developer of model-based design
for manufacturing solutions that analyze, predict, and
reduce the impact of process variability during the manufacture
and design of semiconductors. The Ponte team will help
Mentor Graphics' design-to-silicon business unit. Ponte
shares Mentor's vision for an integrated DFM offering
being required as the semiconductor market continues to
evolve. While Ponte was providing a solution for today's
requirements, it makes sense for Ponte to align with Mentor
Graphics to deliver complete DFM technology on the market-leading
Calibre platform going forward.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Netezza Corporation acquires NuTech Solutions
 Netezza
Corporation has acquired NuTech Solutions, provider of
advanced predictive analytics and optimization solutions.
This acquisition will extend Netezza's capabilities in
advanced analytics by giving the Company greater intellectual
property and expertise in this rapidly growing field.
As companies continue to increase their focus on competing
on analytics, Netezza sees a growing demand in the market
for the infrastructure and tools to do these advanced
analytics. By acquiring NuTech Solutions, they are not
only getting the analytic expertise of 30 industry-leading
scientists and engineers, but also a strong depth of knowledge
across key and strategic vertical markets that will further
enable their customers' ability to gain strategic insight
from their information assets.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
SunGard to acquire Strohl Systems
SunGard is acquiring Strohl Systems Group, Inc., a provider
of business continuity planning software and services.
Strohl Systems will become part of SunGard Availability
Services, a leading provider of information availability
solutions. Strohl Systems is a leader in delivering business
continuity planning solutions to community banks and credit
unions via its award winning solution, PLANet. In total,
Strohl has more than 2,000 customers in 20 countries including
nearly 30 percent of the Fortune 500. As well as this
solution suite, SunGard will acquire deep intellectual
capital in business continuity including experienced developers
and customer support professionals, and a dedicated software
professional services organization and sales force that
will continue to support existing customers and prospects.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: Undisclosed
Mascon Global acquires Ebusinessware
IT services firm Mascon Global (India) has acquired New
York-based Ebusinessware Inc, which offers IT solutions
and consulting to financial services firms, marking its
third acquisition this year. The firm also plans to list
on Nasdaq later this year. Ebusinessware provides technology
solutions and services in areas like credit risk management,
market risk management, credit derivatives, business process
management and reference data management. Ebusinessware
has about 1,100 employees, of which 750-800 are based
in India and the rest in the US. The fundamental objective
is to build the company into an innovation-led, domain-focused
IT solutions provider.
Announcement Date: May 15, 2008
Deal Value: $35 Million
Time to Sell?
 Growth
moving forward will depend on larger scale deals, the robustness
of the economy, capital raised by private equity and the
relative stability in interest rates and capital markets.
Companies that consider private equity to be a short-term
phenomenon will be left behind. They need to be affirmative
in competing with private equity for deals…a sit and
wait approach will not work. For anyone considering an exit,
the current M&A market is healthy and we expect it to
remain robust in the near term. Despite the positive outlook,
technology-related deals can present unique challenges,
especially in the areas of sustainability of the business
model, quality of revenues and cash flows, intellectual
property and intangible valuations, and cultural and merger
integration. Sellers need to ensure they have the appropriate
expertise and external transaction advisory professionals
to sort through the myriad complexities to derive the best
possible structure, terms, and fit. Beyond economic factors,
the timing of an M&A event is perhaps the most critical
factor in achieving M&A goals, dramatically affecting
valuation and success rate. Timing can depend on where you
are in your company's lifecycle: positive momentum in terms
of revenue and earnings growth, customer wins and new product
releases. Outside industry events should also be taken into
consideration when contemplating M&A timing: a competitor's
acquisition, increased deal activity signalling consolidation,
or entry into your market by a larger company. As is usually
the case in M&A, the earlier you are acquired in a technology
shift or consolidation period, the better position you will
find yourself in negotiations.
Valuations
Valuations have sunk in 2008 until substantial lower levels.
We have to wait for the recovery of the stock market to
compare. More normal as reference point is the status quo
of December 31:
Software Industry Public Peer Group Valuations (as of
December 31, 2007):
Software Sectors TTM EV/S Multiple
Digital Media 1.61 x
Enterprise Applications 3.67 x
Business Intelligence 4.12 x
Enterprise Content Management 2.08 x
Supply Chain Management 2.25 x
Enterprise Infrastructure 3.04 x
Connectivity/Legacy Extension/Web Services 2.42 x
Software Development Tools 1.83x
Storage 2.49 x
Gaming & Entertainment 1.75 x
Internet Infrastructure 4.04 x
Internet Pure Plays 2.93 x
IT Services 0.83 x
Security 3.62 x
Wireless 0.99 x
Vertical Market Software
Energy and Environment* 5.37 x
Engineering 2.74 x
Financial Services Industry 2.73 x
Government/DOD/Homeland Security 1.24 x
Healthcare Industry 2.62 x
Other Vertical Markets 2.14 x
Telecom Industry 1.44 x
Key Definitions:
EV = Enterprise Value; Enterprise Value = Market Value
+ Debt - Cash
TTM EV/S = Enterprise Value/Trailing Twelve Month Sales
P/E = Price per share/Earnings per share
Trailing multiples are based on the most recent reported
results
Forward multiples are based on First Call earnings and
revenue estimates
 Although
aggregate M&A activities in 2007 have proved to be one
for the reco
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