Platinum Software Corp has now decided on its new corporate branding, chairman, president and CEO George Klaus told an investors meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday. The new name for Platinum, the financial software house which merged with Dutch enterprise resource planning software house DataWorks Corp at the end of last year, is to be Epicor Inc, a name expected to be officially adopted later this year.
Platinum Technology Inc won the trademark rights to the Platinum name earlier this year (CI No 3,598) following a long-running dispute between the two companies. But shortly after the agreement was announced, Platinum Technology agreed to be acquired by Computer Associates International Inc in a $3.5bn merger deal. It is currently unclear whether or not CA will retain the Platinum name. But Platinum Software insists the name change is not being made just because of the dispute. It reflects our strengthened position in our chosen market said Klaus. Shareholders have yet to vote on the change, the company said.
Platinum Software posted its first quarter results on Monday, the first to combine figures from DataWorks, the acquisition of which was closed on December 31, 1998. Platinum posted its second quarter 1999 results in February, but has now adopted the calendar year as the new fiscal year for the combined company. It showed a profit of $2.1m, or $0.05 per share, on revenue of $66.1m. Platinum holds cash and short-term investments of $47.3m, accounts receivable of $79.1m and deferred revenue of $33.3m.
Klaus said he felt Platinum had made significant progress streamlining our operations and that international revenue and growth rates of front office customer relationship management software had been strong during the quarter. Sales of manufacturing software, however, were weak. The company plans further significant announcements next Monday.
