Network computing giant Sun Microsystems Inc. and SeeBeyond Technology Corp. have entered into a definitive agreement for Sun to acquire SeeBeyond, a provider of enterprise integration solutions, with trailing 12 month revenues of approximately $167 million and 2,000 customers worldwide. Under the terms of the agreement approved by both boards of directors, SeeBeyond stockholders will receive $4.25 per share in cash for each SeeBeyond share for an aggregate value of approximately $387 million, including the assumption of employee stock options.
The acquisition is part of Sun’s vision for the future of the Java platform, explains Scott McNealy, Sun’s chairman and CEO. “Sun is well positioned to partner with systems integrators worldwide in serving the global market. Both they and our mutual customers are increasingly focused not only on the world of web services, but the secure integration of those business processes through service oriented architectures (SOA). This acquisition strengthens our software portfolio and opens new growth and partnering opportunities worldwide.”
"Since last year, we have actively worked with Sun on joint SOA-based architectural and vertical solutions," says Jim Demetriades, founder and CEO, SeeBeyond. "The results of these efforts are already being seen through work with joint customers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which is actively leveraging our technologies to drive cost savings and process improvement."
Sun is actively integrating more services into its software portfolio. The Solaris operating system, which ships with all Sun software suites, is the foundation of this integrated set of services -- called the Java Enterprise System. The Java Enterprise System includes: Sun Java System Application Platform Suite, Sun Java System Communication Suite, Sun Java System Identity Management Suite, Sun Java System Availability Suite and Sun Java System Web Infrastructure Suite.
The products, services and solutions currently offered by Sun and SeeBeyond are complementary with little overlap. SeeBeyond's Integrated Composite Application Network (ICAN) Suite is a highly-integrated suite, bringing back-office integration, B2B integration, ETL Master Data Management, Business Process Management, Workflow, Business Activity Monitoring, Application Adapters, and a suite of graphical development tools for composite application creation based on web services. With SeeBeyond, Sun will extend the Java Enterprise System platform with a sixth suite, the Sun Java System Integration Suite.
The two companies established a go-to-market partnership in October 2004 to integrate these product lines in order to deliver a more powerful environment for customers. The combination of Sun's Java Enterprise System and SeeBeyond's ICAN suite will result in an integrated environment for the development of SOA-based enterprise applications.
Following completion of the proposed transaction, which is expected to occur in early Fall 2005, SeeBeyond will be integrated with Sun. In the interim, a joint team with representatives of both companies will develop integration plans that build upon the technological, product and cultural synergies as well as the best business and product development practices of both companies. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval, SeeBeyond shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions.
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