Software AG and SAGA Systems Inc. announced that Software AG will acquire all outstanding common stock in SAGA Systems for US$11.50 per SAGA Systems share in cash, for a total transaction value of approximately US$360 million. (Until March 1997, SAGA Systems was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Software AG, at which time the senior management of SAGA Systems together with Thayer Capital acquired 90% of the share capital.) SAGA’s markets and services Software AG’s products in North and South America, Japan and Israel. In addition, SAGA Systems licenses and services its own enterprise application integration product, Sagavista. With the acquisition of SAGA, Software AG will gain direct access to the large customer base in North and South America, Japan and Israel. The combined sales force will provide Software AG with a platform for accelerating growth of its Electronic Business products in the North American market. Software AG will combine the North American operations of Software AG and SAGA Systems into a single operating unit. Software AG, with its new headquarters in Reston, VA. and a major branch office in San Ramon, CA, will be present in 14 major business locations across the U.S. Software AG expects to incur a one-time cost of up to Euro 20 million in 2001. The transaction is expected to be significantly revenue and earnings enhancing to Software AG, excluding one-time costs. The acquisition of SAGA Systems is expected to close in Q1 2001. www.softwareag.com, www.sagasoftware.com
Day: November 1, 2000
Virage, Inc. announced that it has joined forces with Vignette Corp., Sun Microsystems and 12 other partners to define enterprise requirements for content management. The group has created the eXtended Content Management (XCM) Alliance — a one-stop destination for companies looking for comprehensive content management solutions for building online businesses. The alliance intends to create and define the standard criteria for content management solutions and help companies develop a framework for evaluating their various business needs to create fully-integrated, end-to-end solutions. In addition, it plans to allow customers to contact one source when buying the highest quality content management solutions available that are extensible, scalable and easily integrated. The XCM Alliance brings together vendors from the three major categories that make up the content management world: Content Development Management, Application Content Management and Content Delivery/Acceleration Management. Classifying content management applications in this way is designed to enable customers to make faster, smarter purchasing decisions. www.vignette.com, www.virage.com
