Software AG on the acquisition trail

Effective 1 January 2008, the deal will aim to strengthen Software AG’s leadership position in this market. The vendor has been on the acquisition trail of late, recently acquiring webMethods in June for $546 million and 80 percent of SPL Israel in March for $62 million.

“With our unique heritage as well as our strength in SOA, Software AG is well-positioned to extend our leadership in the Application Modernisation market,” said Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO of Software AG.

The vendor will also gain over 200 Jacanda partners as a result of the acquisition who will be given access to Software AG’s business infrastructure software portfolio.

“For current Jacada customers, the acquisition is excellent news. Existing products will benefit from an expanded research and development organisation with far greater financial resources. This is also good news for Software AG as the acquired technology will further strengthen our position within an important market,” said Streibich.

Application Modernisation extends custom applications by making their functionality and data available via the Web, within a service-oriented architecture or as part of an end-to-end business process. Software AG is optimistic about the effect this technology will have on the company’s financial growth.

“We expect the deal to enhance our earnings in 2008 while supporting our goal of a twenty three to twenty four percent EBIT margin”, said Arnd Zinnhardt, chief financial officer, Software AG. “This is consistent with our policy of acquisition being EBIT positive within a year or even sooner as in this case. It also underscores our willingness to acquire established businesses that will benefit appreciably from the infrastructure, global reach and efficient management offered by Software AG.”