Acquisitions will play a major role in Baan Co NV’s expansion plans as it continues to build momentum and attack competitors. Last week, Aurum Software Corp was added to Baan’s purchasing record (CI No 3,161), and company executives here at Baan World ’97 have said Baan will buy at least two or three companies a year over the next few years. Tom Tinsley, Baan’s president, said the company will merge Aurum with Antalys Inc, the configuration supplier it bought last year (CI No 3,046). Baan’s managing director based in Sweden, Per Norung, said the company isn’t only interested in application purchases, and views some acquisitions as a means of recruiting trained, skilled staff required as Baan continues its global growth. Although Baan competes in the enterprise resource planning arena with Peoplesoft Inc, Oracle Corp and SAP AG, it is SAP that Baan really wants to get ahead of. Founder and chief executive Jan Baan said SAP is an elephant, we can be the leopard. He said the company, which now has dual headquarters in Putten in the Netherlands and Menlo Park, California, started off in the 1980’s as a Dutch company, moved into the rest of Europe in the early 1990’s, and now operates as a fully international company. The US now accounts for 39% of Baan’s business, Europe 45% and Latin America 15%. The company has recently restructured itself, and has split Europe into two areas, Central and East. It has also created Baan Affiliates to deal specifically with acquisitions.
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