Divine Inc. is making another addition to the stable of e-business software companies it has acquired, announcing its intention Wednesday to buy once high-flying personalization and e-marketing software developer Delano Technology Corp.
The deal, approved by the boards of both companies, calls for Divine to offer Delano shareholders 1.187 of its own shares for each share of Delano stock they own, for a total of 51.55 million Divine shares. At Wednesdays closing prices, the deal is worth approximately $31.4 million.
Upon closing of the deal, still subject to approval by Delano shareholders and regulatory requirements, Divine will add Delano technology for marketing, customer service and analytics to its own Customer Interaction Management suite. Previous Divine customer interaction management acquisitions include eShare Communications Inc. and Synchrony Communications, both of which the company acquired last year.
While those two companies software were mainly focused around customer service applications, Delano is mainly prized for its marketing campaign management capabilities.
“We see enormous opportunity in the rapidly growing campaign management/e-marketing segment, which some analysts predict could reach more than $2 billion by 2003,” said Divines president of software services, George Landgrebe, in a statement. “Delano also deepens our presence in key vertical markets, including financial services, automotive and entertainment, and provides Divine with an outstanding talent base in the Toronto market.”
Delano is based in Toronto; Divine is in Chicago.
The acquisition will enable Divine to offer multichannel e-marketing, inbound and outbound interaction management, self-service and campaign management, encompassing telephony and Internet-based campaign management, as well as inbound call center and contact center management, Divine officials said.
“Customers are now demanding comprehensive integrated suites,” said Vikas Kapoor, CEO of Delano, in a statement. “This merger is a strategic opportunity for Delano to realize the full potential of our technology while leveraging Divines leading extended enterprise solutions, as well as its strong sales and professional services organizations.”
Delano, in its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, actually turned a modest $362,000 profit. But its revenues slipped from $9.3 million in the same period a year ago to $4.2 million, with an even steeper falloff in license revenues, from $8 million to $2.5 million. The companys net loss for the first nine months of its fiscal year was $34.2 million, all of that from operations.