A fittingly imperfect end for Kana

Posted by on October 29, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly As liquidity events go, the just-announced sale of Kana Software is shaping up to be a pretty dry one for most shareholders. The customer service automation vendor said on Tuesday that it plans to sell its operating business to buyout group Accel-KKR for $49m and retain the publicly listed shell of a [...]

Dassault Systemes bulks up through an old friend

Posted by on October 28, 2009

Contact: John Abbott Dassault Systèmes’ $600m purchase of IBM’s CATIA product lifecycle management (PLM) sales and client support operations on Tuesday is the latest twist in a complex, 30-year relationship between the two companies. Dassault, founded in 1981, inherited the rights to CATIA, one of the first 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) packages, from its aerospace [...]

At long last, Kana gets gone

Posted by on October 27, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly Exactly three years ago, we bluntly wrote that there was no reason for Kana Software to be a public company, at least in its current form. Kana’s performance in the intervening 1,000 days since we published that report did nothing to change our view. If anything, as the red ink continued to [...]

A PE rebound?

Posted by on October 26, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly After the turmoil in the credit market essentially knocked PE shops out of tech M&A for much of the past two years, we’re hearing various indications that buyouts may be coming back. We recently noted the rumor in the market that in the coming weeks PE firm Francisco Partners will ink in [...]

Patient Smith Micro is big on M&A

Posted by on October 23, 2009

Although out of the market for most of the recession, the mobile software vendor has already inked one deal and is looking for more. We speculate on some potential targets.

Equinix continues datacenter consolidation

Posted by on October 22, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly, Dan Golding Two years ago, Equinix went shopping to expand its business across the Atlantic, paying $555m in cash for London-based IXEurope. The deal, which required a topping bid from Equinix to get closed, created the first truly global carrier-neutral colocation player. Now, Equinix is looking to consolidate its home US market. [...]

A unanimous quartet

Posted by on October 21, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly, Dennis Callaghan With BMC Software reaching across the Atlantic this week for Tideway Systems, the Big Four systems management vendors are now four for four in terms of buying startups that do datacenter asset discovery and dependency mapping. The deal, which is the second acquisition by BMC in as many months, should [...]

Does Wall Street run through the RedPrairie?

Posted by on October 20, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly Along with the rising equity markets, there’s a new flow of companies that are planning to file their IPO paperwork in the next few weeks. For instance, we know of two venture-backed mobile vendors that have picked underwriters and plan to put in their prospectuses shortly. And we’re willing to bet that [...]

Microsoft pals up with Opalis?

Posted by on October 19, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly, William Fellows Having already seen a trio of notable runbook automation (RBA) startups get snapped up by major tech players, we’re now hearing buzz about another pairing. Word is that Microsoft has snagged Opalis Software for about $60m, according to both financial and industry sources. Opalis, which has raised $25m in venture [...]

Is Riverbed floating toward a deal?

Posted by on October 15, 2009

Contact: Brenon Daly Riverbed Technology is one of those companies that has seemingly been in play for as long as it’s been around. And that’s understandable enough, given that the company has an attractive profile as the fast-growing leader in a market that’s taking off. Add to that the fact that Riverbed plays in the [...]

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