By John Rogers
Informix Corp said Wednesday that it has struck a deal to acquire privately-held Cloudscape Inc, the provider of a small-footprint Java SQL database. For Menlo Park, California-based Informix, the move comes as part of its push into the market for distributed e- business applications. It will hand over 10 million shares of common stock to Cloudscape, which is based in Oakland, valuing the deal at $83.4m based on Wednesday’s closing price.
Informix adds that the deal will be structured as a pooling of interests for accounting purposes, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The acquisition comes after the two companies have been working together for about nine months. It will give Informix the ability to combine its enterprise database software, Informix Internet Foundation.2000, with the Cloudscape portable Java database and offer customers what it calls a unique and powerful platform for the development of e-business applications.
The Cloudscape database is written in 100% Pure Java, which the company maintains supports lower cost of ownership for applications that are distributed and occasionally connected. Other features of the product include full object relational functionality, application and data synchronization technology, and zero client administration. The company claims 250 customers and booked revenue in the $3m to $5m range for the fiscal year ended last March.
The 50-person company, which has been funded by venture capital since its inception in 1996 – including a $10m round of financing in June 1998 – told ComputerWire last November that it had enough cash to last it until the end of the current year. At that time, a company executive said that before this December some type of financial transaction would take place, whether it be more funding, angel money, an IPO or even a merger. It appears that after developing a close relationship with Informix, the latter seemed the most appealing choice.
