Ranadive's Tibco to acquire British firm for $217 M
Monday, 17 May 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW YORK: In a $217-million deal, Tibco Software, a technology company founded by Indian American Vivek Ranadive, is acquiring a British process management firm to improve geographical reach and customer base. The acquisition of Staffware Plc will involve both a cash component and issuance of Tibco shares, the two companies said in a statement. Bank of America Securities Limited is facilitating the deal in Britain. "We believe business processes are rapidly becoming the most valuable corporate asset," said Ranadive who serves as chairman and chief executive of the Paolo Alto, California-based Tibco. "This combination brings two best-in-class technologies together to more completely deliver value to customers investing in business process management solutions." He believed that the acquisition will provide Tibco with immediate additional reach into new and emerging markets, including retail banking, insurance, public sector and telecommunications. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Staffware has offices in 17 countries and employs some 370 people. The profitable, debt-free, company is focused exclusively on providing business process management solutions. It invests 18.1 percent of its sales in research and development, compared with a global average of 10.2 percent. Ranadivé founded Tibco in 1985 after holding management and engineering positions with Ford Motor Company, M/A-Com Linkabit and Fortune Systems. Tibco became an incorporated company in 1997 and in 1999 it went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Earlier, Ranadive had founded another company, Teknekron, which was acquired by Reuters Group Plc. in 1994. He has a master's in business administration from Harvard Business School and a master's and bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His book, 'The Power of Now: How Winning Companies Sense and Respond to Change Using Real-time Technology published by McGraw-Hill in 1999, has been a New York Times bestseller.
Source: IANS
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