Verity Inc. and Inktomi Corp. jointly announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Verity will acquire from Inktomi the assets relating to Inktomi’s enterprise search software business, which includes basic search, categorization and content refinement capabilities, as well as its XML technology assets. Verity will pay a purchase price of $25 million in cash, and will also assume Inktomi’s obligations under certain existing enterprise search business contracts, including customer support obligations. The companies currently anticipate closing the transaction in the next 30 to 60 days, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Verity anticipates the transaction will be accretive to earnings per share within the first six months following closing. Under the terms of the parties’ agreement, Verity will gain access to Inktomi’s customer base of 2,500 companies worldwide. www.inktomi.com, www.verity.com