February 09, 2006, 11:35 AM — Business Objects SA, the provider of business intelligence software, agreed to buy Firstlogic Inc., which makes enterprise data quality software, for US$69 million, Business Objects said.
The acquisition will allow Business Objects to offer data quality management products and services to deliver a more complete enterprise information strategy offering, the company said Wednesday.
When companies do data integration work they inevitably find data quality issues, according to Business Objects. With this acquisition, the company can offer products and services that combine data integration with data quality functions, the company said.
Business Objects also said that it expects the acquisition to make it more competitive because customers are looking to standardize on a single platform that can deliver a complete information management tool. Business Objects is one of the few independent business intelligence vendors left, as broader platform vendors like Oracle Corp. and IBM Corp. add business intelligence to their products.
Several years ago the business intelligence sector went through a period of consolidation, when Business Objects itself was the subject of rumors about a potential takeover. It is now one of the largest independent business intelligence vendors.
Firstlogic has upwards of 6,000 customers using its data quality products, which offer data assessment and measurement, data cleansing, data enrichment and monitoring. Firstlogic and Business Objects have worked together since 2004.
The acquisition is a cash transaction and is expected to close in the second quarter, the companies said.
