Business Objects to Buy Acta

Business Objects makes a move into the data warehouse building space.

Business Objects SA moved Tuesday to expand into the data warehouse building space with the acquisition of Acta Technology Inc.

The acquisition will bring Actas data integration technology to the business intelligence platform and analytic applications developer, making it more of a so-called enterprise analytics platform developer.

The cash transaction is valued at $65 million and is expected to close during this quarter, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Both boards of directors have approved the acquisition.

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Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects, said in a statement that the acquisition would enable the Paris-based company, with North American headquarters in San Jose, Calif., to offer its customers "a total solution for business intelligence, from data extraction to analytic application delivery, and everything in between."

"Until now, we have relied on partners to complete our solutions," Liautaud said. "While we will continue to work with all the data integration tools on the market, with the acquisition of Acta we will be able to pre-integrate our applications and tools with Actas leading data integration technology in order to deliver faster deployments, faster payback, and faster return on investment for our customers."

One of Business Objects data integration partners, Informatica Corp., made its own move into analytics last fall, ending a licensing agreement it had with Business Objects in the process. The acquisition announced today is further indication of the consolidation of data integration and business intelligence.

Liautaud said that Business Objects plans to integrate Actas packaged data mart technology with its packaged analytic applications, with the solution fully integrated with business applications from such developers as SAP AG and PeopleSoft Inc.

"Ultimately, this acquisition is about providing our customers with complete BI solutions that integrate data across the scores of packaged and custom-developed applications that they use today," Liautaud said. "In so doing, we will be able to enable our customers to get powerful insights from their corporate information and improve business performance."

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