Acquisitions by prominent companies always grab attention. For a time, it seemed that IBM was announcing the purchase of a new Boston-area startup every month. Recently, rival Oracle decided to acquire its own Boston-area company. Art Technology Group, Inc. (ATG), a Cambridge-based provider of eCommerce software, announced this month that it had accepted a deal to be acquired by Oracle for $6 per share, or approximately $1 billion total. (Image courtesy: http://www.atg.com/)“The addition of ATG, which brings market-leading products used by some of the largest and most well-known retailers and brands, furthers Oracle’s strategy of delivering industry-specific enterprise applications,” said Bob Weiler, Executive Vice President of Oracle Global Business Units. “This acquisition builds upon our dedication to offer the most complete and integrated suite of best-of-breed software applications and technologies required to power the most demanding companies in the world in every industry.”
In addition to offering complimentary services, Oracle and ATG have acknowledged that they already share many of the same customers. Bundling their services under one name and one leadership team will be a very natural transition.
“More than 1,000 global enterprises rely on ATG's solutions to help
increase the value of their online customer interactions,” said Bob Burke, President and CEO at ATG. “This combination will enhance the ability to bring all their commerce activities together--creating a more consistent and relevant experience for their customers across all interaction channels, including online, in stores, via mobile devices and with call centers.” (Image Courtesy: http://www.oracle.com/index.html)The acquisition will be finalized sometime in early 2011. As of now, ATG employees are anticipated to stay on with Oracle following the purchase.
With big-name companies like Macy’s, Best Buy, and CVS as clients, and demand for its services only increasing, ATG was far from struggling on its own. Now, bundled with the offerings of Oracle, and backed by the company’s tremendous resources, it seems highly likely that ATG will continue to be a lucrative asset. Congratulations to yet another Cambridge-based company for proving it has what it takes to succeed despite tough economic conditions.
[Sources: http://bit.ly/aiwHVj, http://bit.ly/98op91, http://bit.ly/aPctIp]
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