In a move designed to make it easier for non-financial users to benefit from operational business information, Applix, the performance management software house has acquired Temtec International B.V., a privately held Netherlands company and provider of self-service analytic software for $14.5 million. The acquisition is in line with Applix's niche strategy, reported in last week's FSN, aimed at delivering operational performance management outside of the finance function.
Explaining the rationale for the acquisition, Martin Richmond-Cogan, of Applix told FSN, "As soon as you take performance management outside of the finance function, you are dealing with people who are less familiar with reporting tools and information delivery. The applications are also much more varied and volatile. So the reporting tools have to be a lot easier to use unless you are going to provide the infrastructure to support them," he said.
However, the technical environment outside of finance is also less cohesive and from a systems perspective, the acquisition of Temtec enables Applix to provide companies with a more powerful solution set for creating, managing and delivering operational performance management applications in a mixed technical environment. For example, Temtec's Executive Viewer (an intuitive, self-service solution for analysis and reporting), integrates with popular backend solutions – including Hyperion Essbase, Microsoft Analysis Services and SAP . This says Richmond-Coggan will enable Applix to offer businesses a single interface to performance management applications that is visually interactive and simple for users to learn and use.
"Temtec pioneered self-service analytics, building a large, satisfied customer base while receiving important industry recognition in the process," added Alan Parker, managing director, Temtec.
Richmond Coggan told FSN, "The Temtec technology will allow us to operate across multiple technical platforms yet maintain a single user interface. As part of the acquisition, we get a strong team of engineers with the skills needed to play in this segment."
But the transaction also gives Applix access to around 400 users world-wide that have implemented successfully operational performance management systems. "There is some overlap with our customer base but we are definitely acquiring a good user base," added Richmond Coggan.
"Customers are calling for unified performance management solutions that can be easily and broadly deployed – not just in finance but throughout operations. This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to respond to this market demand and to bring more complete operational performance management solutions to the enterprise," added David Mahoney, president and CEO, Applix, Inc. "We expect that this acquisition will immediately benefit our combined customers, which now number almost 2,800, by allowing them to accelerate the deployment and operational effectiveness of their performance management investments."
The purchase consideration of $14.5 million will consist of $12.0 million in cash and $2.5 million in Applix common stock.
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