infoTECH Feature

September 08, 2008

Open Text Corp acquires America's Captaris Inc

Canadian software vendor Open Text Corp has purchased Captaris (News - Alert) for about $131 million, months after a private-equity firm Vector Capital failed in its bid to buy US software maker.
 
 The takeover strengthens its enterprise content management business as Captaris is reputed for making software to manage documents.
 
"Captaris' technology will strengthen Open Text's ECM solutions by providing another on-ramp for integrating content into our ECM solutions," Open Text Chief Executive John Shackleton said in a statement, underlining the exact reason for the takeover.
The companies expect the deal to close by the end of the calendar year.
 
Captaris’s software products include document and data capture solutions that let customers convert paper documents into digital content, and manage associated processes. Such solution will soon be integrated with Open Text’s invoice management applications that work with SAP (News - Alert) and Oracle.
 
In July, Open Text acquired eMotion, a provider of hosted business applications for managing digital media assets and marketing content. Another company Open Text purchased in the recent past is Spicer that specializes in file format viewer applications for desktop applications, integrated business process management systems, and reprographics.
 
"After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, the Captaris Board of Directors believes that the merger provides value for our shareholders and the certainty of cash," said David P. Anastasi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Captaris. "Captaris today has a significant customer base, broad distribution capabilities, and major strategic partnerships."

Captaris specializes in document capture, recognition, routing, workflow and delivery. Captaris customers include the entire Fortune 100 and the majority of Global 2000 companies. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Captaris has approximately 565 employees.
 
Captaris posted revenue of $94.8 million last year, up from $91.9 million in 2006. Its net income was $224,000 last year, which compares with $3.9 million in 2006.

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Narayan Bhat is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Narayan's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Tim Gray
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