Siebel Buys Banking Systems Company Eontec

Under the deal's terms, Siebel will pay $70 million in cash to Eontec shareholders. Up to an additional $60 million in cash, with a target of $30 million, may be paid in earn-out payments during 2005 based on revenue and contractual milestones.

Siebel claims that according to industry analyst estimates, banks are expected to spend $1.4 billion updating branch technology by 2006, which Siebel says represents a significant market opportunity for it and its new acquisition.

Eontec's technology, built on an industry-standard J2EE application server platform, offers a standards-based, service oriented architecture to handle a wide range of customer interactions through multiple channels, including the branch, call center, Internet, and ATM.

"Retail banks are increasingly realizing they must transform branches from transactional centers into customer-centric sales and service centers that work seamlessly in concert with other channels," said Thomas M. Siebel, Chairman and CEO, Siebel Systems in a statement. "To do so, they require next-generation technology that not only replaces outdated teller systems, but also leverages CRM and business intelligence tools to reduce operational costs, improve employee productivity, and support business processes needed to strengthen customer relationships. With this acquisition, Siebel Systems provides the most complete multichannel customer-centric banking solution on the market."

This story courtesy of TechWeb News