Sybase is to acquire middleware integration specialist New Era of Networks (Neon) in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $373 million. Neon will become a part of a new e-business division that Sybase plans to create as soon as the deal is finalised.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2001. The agreement to acquire Neon comes just four weeks after Sybase announced record earnings, and rounds-out a three-year re-engineering effort aimed at transforming the company from a database supplier to a fully integrated provider of e-business solutions.
John Chen, chairman, president and CEO of Sybase says: "With Neon, Sybase will be able to capitalise on the most important segment of the e-business marketplace - one that necessitates the integration of existing applications with new e-Business applications."
Under the terms of the agreement, each share of Neon common stock will be converted into 0.3878 shares of Sybase common stock, which represents an implied offer price per share of $9.50, and results in a net purchase price of approximately $373 million, based on the $24.50 per share closing price of Sybase common stock on 20 February, 2001
Once the deal is sealed, Sybase plans to create a new e-business division, integrating elements of the Neon product line with Sybase's flagship Enterprise Portal (EP) solution. This new division will provide a combination of portal, integration and e-business software services and will be headed by Neon CEO and chairman Rick Adam.