Business Objects To Acquire Crystal Decisions

Paris-based Business Objects said it will issue approximately 26.5 million shares of common stock along with $300 million in cash, making its acquisition of the privately-held Crystal Decisions valued at about $820 million.

Business Objects said it hopes to leverage Crystal Decisions' strength in distribution. It maintains relationships with about 350 OEM partners, including Microsoft, PeopleSoft and SAP, as well as relationships with resellers and distributors. Business Objects said its strength has been with major systems integrators.

Business Objects has been focusing on its ad hoc query, reporting and analysis capabilities, and the company recently targeted executives with new dashboard, scorecard, and enterprise performance management (EPM) capabilities. Crystal Decisions, San Jose, Calif., has a strong marketshare in the business reporting space.

Earlier this year, Business Objects retooled its channel program, cutting some partners and loosening up some sales requirements, the company said. It trimmed about 100 out of a total of more than 500 partners.

Crystal Decisions, meanwhile, had looked at launching an IPO; It had filed registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission in May.