Pivotal has signed a definitive merger agreement with
Chinadotcom unit CDC Software after abandoning an earlier agreement
with Oak Investment Partners, which planned to merge Pivotal with
Talisma, another maker of midmarket CRM software.
Barring any further twists, the deal will be ratified at a
shareholders meeting in February. CDC Software will pay
approximately $59m for Pivotal.
Hong Kong-based Chinadotcom will use Pivotal's CRM technology as
a component of the enterprise resource planning suite CDC Software
is constructing through acquisitions. The company recently
purchased analytics and supply-chain management applications, and
is working to complete a $69m purchase of manufacturing industry
ERP software company Ross Systems early next year.
Pivotal will operate as a separate business unit within CDC
Software, and will stay at its headquarters in Vancouver. CDC
Software will continue developing Pivotal's software, and will also
work to integrate it with other applications in the company's
portfolio in the hope of cross-selling those applications to
existing Pivotal customers.
CDC Software will also expand Pivotal's reach in the
Asia-Pacific region, the territory on which CDC Software
focuses.
Spurned suitor Onyx still hopes to woo some of Pivotal's
customers. The company is offering a migration program allowing
customers who purchased Pivotal's software before 12 November and
enrolled in Pivotal's maintenance program to trade in their Pivotal
licences for licences of Onyx Enterprise CRM 4.5. Details on the
program are at
http://www.onyx.com/Pivotal/.
Stacy Cowley writes for IDG News Service
