Enterprise content management vendor OpenText said Wednesday that it is purchasing business process management software provider Metastorm for US$182 million.
With OpenText's technologies and larger infrastructure, Metastorm will be able to offer its customers a deeper range of functionality as well as a greater global sales reach, said Metastorm CEO Robert Farrell in a statement.
Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Metastorm is most well-known for its BPM (business process management) software, which allows organizations to set up computerized workflows that bridge multiple enterprise software products.
The company has also built up a line of enterprise architecture software used for system design, and offers a number of BPA (business process analysis) tools as well.
Metastorm's customers include CIT Group, Hewlett-Packard, DePaul University, Qualcomm and the U.S. Air Force.
The companies expect the transaction, pending the completion of a number of closing conditions, to be completed by the end of March. The Metastorm purchase is one of a number that OpenText has made recently.
In October, Open Text acquired communications software provider StreamServe for $US71 million. In February 2010, the company acquired digital content management systems provider Nstein Technologies for $35 million. And in May 2009, Open Text purchased competing content management software provider Vignette for $310 million.
OpenText is one of the largest vendors of ECM (enterprise content management) software for managing documents within organizations. The company generated $912 million in revenue for its fiscal 2010, and reports having 46,000 customers.
In other acquisition news within the ECM community, Xerox has announced that it has purchased the assets of document management service provider WaterWare Internet Services. Xerox plans to roll WaterWave's electronic health records management capabilities into its own DocuShare enterprise content management platform.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com
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