The only puzzle is why it has taken Toronto, Canada-based Hummingbird so long to buy privately held RedDot. The two companies have been in a strategic partnership since 2002 and Hummingbird re-sells RedDot’s content management server to provide customers with web capabilities to complement its own document management and portal technologies.
In a reversal of normal takeover logic, Hummingbird CEO Barry Litwin said the company had first built a successful partnership and customer base with RedDot. Under the merger plan, both companies’ product suites will be cross-licensed to their respective customer bases.
In this way, Hummingbird argues that it will create an integrated supply chain that extended to the broadest market segments the two companies serve.
Oldenburg, Germany-based RedDot has a 1,300 strong customer base including Federal Express, Honda and Starbucks. Hummingbird argues that it serves large enterprises and this will extend its reach to the mid-sized, where growth is expected to be most rapid.
RedDot reveals little about its finances but claimed earlier this year that it achieved more than 50% revenue growth in North America. The company’s management will remain in office and RedDot will operate as a Hummingbird subsidiary.
