Micro Focus International will acquire Relativity Technologies, a developer of enterprise application modernisation software, for $9.7m in cash, following the unanimous approval of the offer by Relativity’s directors.
Relativity’s modernisation software platform, Modernization Workbench, helps users in renovating, re-architecting, business process modelling, SOA-enablement, and redevelopment. It applies legacy modernisation across Cobol, Natural, RPG, Visual Basic, C/C++, and Java. The platform enables organisations to understand, manage, modernise, and maintain applications throughout the enterprise.
The company claims to have over 400 clients, including Infosys, Software AG, and Syntel. With the acquisition of Relativity, Micro Focus expects to strengthen its position in the application modernisation market as well as expand its geographic reach.
Stephen Kelly, CEO of Micro Focus International, said: “In this tough macroeconomic environment, CEOs are crying out to slash IT costs. Application modernisation projects — which provide payback in weeks — answer that call. The combination of Micro Focus and Relativity will enhance Micro Focus’ position as a leading player in the expanding application modernisation market.”
Founded in 1976, Micro Focus is headquartered in Berkshire. It has over 15,000 customers for its application modernisation software. About 550 employees work in its offices across the UK, US, Germany and Japan.
For the fiscal year ended April 2008, Micro Focus has witnessed a 33% growth in its revenues – from $171.6m in 2007 to $228.2m in 2008. During the fiscal 2008, the company has acquired Acucorp, NetManage and Liant Software.
Kelly said: “The acquisition of Relativity is consistent with Micro Focus’ strategy of acquiring companies that complement our core areas of expertise and where significant synergies can be derived.”