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MARION, OHIO - The acquisition of software vendor Macola by Dutch-based Exact Software has reinforced consolidation as a major trend in middle-market technology and has raised hopes for Macola's relationships with resellers.
Tom Cook, a senior analyst in the Enterprise Management Strategy Group for AMR Research, in Boston, sees the acquisition as the latest instance in the consolidation trend. "I think it just shows that the mid-market has too many vendors and that we'll start to see a shakeout in this area."
Recent examples of this shakeout include Microsoft's acquisition of Great Plains in December, which came shortly after the acquisition of middle-market accounting software firm Accountmate by South African-based Softline Ltd., and the merger of leading middle-market enterprise vendors, Navision and Damgaard, both based in Denmark.
Exact Software specializes in e-business and enterprise resource planning systems, which integrates all aspects of business, including planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing.
The deal will give Exact a North American partner for its e-business product, e-Synergy. The company has about 160,000 clients in 40 countries.
"As the industry has developed, the market has consolidated into fewer but larger companies," said Bruce Hollinger, the president and chief executive of Macola Software, which specializes in products for the manufacturing industry. "This consolidation confirmed, even more, our belief that...