Business Objects to snare US$56m ALG

Business intelligence (BI) solutions vendor Business Objects has announced it is to acquire ALG Software, a vendor of enterprise performance management (EPM) software, in a deal worth US$56million.

ALG’s software is primarily used for profitability management and activity-based costing solutions and its global customers include American Express, British Airways and HBSC.

Business Objects said that ALG’s solutions will complement its existing EPM offerings and that its predictive planning solution complements its own budgeting and planning solutions.

According to Business Objects, ALG’s solutions are more focused on interdepartmental rules so can accommodate more technologically complex modeling scenarios.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2006.“Today’s announcement is terrific news for our customers. By adding ALG Software’s profitability management solutions to our EPM and BI offerings, we will provide our customers with a powerful arsenal for building high-impact performance management solutions,” said John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects.

“The EPM market is in the midst of rapid change, and with this acquisition we will continue to play a leading role in shaping the market. This acquisition is another milestone in our long term corporate strategy around EPM,” he stated.

ALG Software was founded in 1991 and has headquarters in both the UK and the US.

“The combination of Business Objects and ALG Software makes perfect sense, from both a company perspective and from the perspective of our customers,” said Mike Sheratt, founder and CEO of ALG Software.

“ALG Software brings to Business Objects a strong solutions portfolio, as well as talented management, development, and sales teams with proven track records. We are excited about the future direction of enterprise performance management at Business Objects, and feel ALG can help play a key role in its success,” he added.

Earlier this month Business Objects announced the release of its integrated planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation solutions on the Business Objects XI platform.

These new integrated EPM solutions are designed to enable finance organisations to improve their business processes, provide employees with company data, and align corporate resources with overall business strategy, the company said.