LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 2/1/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Is Microsoft eyeing Office subscription pricing?
Microsoft may be preparing to offer a new Office pricing option called "union," which charges the same for cloud as on-premises.
02/01/2010 09:38 AM EST

Facebook rewrites PHP runtime
Facebook is about to open source its own PHP runtime, written from scratch for speed.
01/30/2010 08:53 PM EST

There WILL be a JavaOne this year
JavaOne will happen in 2010, as a co-located event with Oracle's OpenWorld, on Sept. 19-23 in San Francisco.
01/27/2010 01:02 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
Macworld 2010
2/9/2010 to 2/13/2010
San Francisco
IDG World Expo

SPTechCon 2010
2/10/2010 to 2/12/2010
San Francisco
BZ Media

PyCon 2010 (Python Conf.)
2/17/2010 to 2/25/2010
Atlanta
Python Software Foundation

Southern Calif. Linux Expo
2/19/2010 to 2/20/2010
Los Angeles
SCALE

IBM Pulse
2/21/2010 to 2/24/2010
Las Vegas
IBM


 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Facebook brings HipHop to PHP
HipHop compiles PHP to speed up the Web layer at world's most popular social networking si...

Oracle acquires AmberPoint
Today's merger will probably affect most of AmberPoint's existing partnerships with other ...

Adobe moves LiveCycle application platform to the cloud
Release gives developers just what they need to create targeted business process-oriented ...

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

Micro Focus acquires Compuware quality tools, all of Borland


By David Worthington
May 6, 2009 — 
Micro Focus, best known for its legacy modernization software, has vastly expanded its product portfolio by acquiring Compuware's quality tools and by purchasing all of Borland, an application life-cycle management (ALM) software maker.

Today, the companies jointly announced the deals. Micro Focus will pay Compuware US$80 million for its Quality Solutions product line, and it is purchasing all of the outstanding shares of Borland in a cash merger transaction, for a combined expenditure of $155 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Micro Focus will pay $1 per share, representing a premium of 25% over the closing share price of Borland’s common stock from yesterday of $0.80, and a premium of approximately 67% over the average 30-day closing price of $0.60, according to Micro Focus.

The merger is a bit surprising; Borland is a better fit for big enterprise vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Oracle, said Bola Rotibi, principal analyst with Macehiter Ward-Dutton. But banks are sufficiently confident in Micro Focus' ability to do this in lending it the money, she added.

The sale of Compuware’s quality tools business is part of a planned strategy to reorganize the company, said Bob Paul, president and COO of Compuware. "It will allow Compuware to dedicate more investments and management focus to core categories where we can be [the] best in the world. This transaction will result in more differentiated value for our customers and better bottom-line results for our shareholders and employees. Micro Focus will continue to provide the superior level of support that our Quality Solutions customers deserve.”

Rotibi added: “Micro Focus does not strike me as a player in the ALM space, but there are application life-cycle considerations in application modernization, and the company is filling in gaps it sees in its arsenal. Testing is an important requirement. What is a little surprising is that it bought two testing facilities," noting that Borland acquired Segue in February 2006.

Aside from testing, there is little overlap. Borland sold its developer tools subsidiary, CodeGear, to Embarcadero in May 2008.

Borland and Compuware do not have the market share that HP and IBM have in the quality solutions market, but they are still significant players with a long history and large customer footprints, said Rotibi.

"Micro Focus is very keen on making a strategic direction in the testing and QA market," she said, noting, however, that "pound for pound, they are still a small player."


Related Search Term(s): Borland, Compuware, Micro Focus


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/33459
 

Comments

05/06/2009 02:33:52 PM EST

In response to the comment from the analyst that Micro Focus does not appear as a player in the ALM space... In 1998 Micro Focus (in its original incarnation) purchased Intersolv and the PVCS line of ALM products and became Merant. In 2001, Merant sold off the Micro Focus business unit (as well as Data Direct) as the merger was not successful. History does repeat, but I suspect under this management team, the results will be far better than before because of focus on core competencies. This acquisition gives Micro Focus a solid foothold in the non-legacy ALM space.

Glenn


Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading