Web consultant and systems integrator iXL Enterprises is set to buy Wakefield, Massachusetts-based customer relationship management strategist and solution builder Tessera Enterprise Systems for an estimated $120m. The stock deal, which should close in in the fourth quarter, is intended to take Atlanta, Georgia-based iXL to the forefront of the emerging market for internet-based CRM and enterprise relationship management (ERM).
Tessera brings another 130 employees across three US offices to iXL. These add to its existing 1,700 headcount distributed across five countries. Integration of the two companies has already started.
The Tessera purchase is iXL’s first acquisition in over a year. During this time the company has grown rapidly, notably through a successful $72m initial public offering in June 1999 and the signing of a number of prize accounts including Merrill Lynch and Chase Manhattan Bank. Tessera’s customers include BancBoston and UBS.
