Canada's OpenText To Buy Cloud Security Firm Carbonite For $1.42 Billion (venturebeat.com) 15
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Enterprise information management (EIM) company OpenText is acquiring cloud data backup and protection service Carbonite in a deal worth $1.42 billion. Carbonite, which offers a number of data backup and protection services for consumers and businesses, had become the subject of significant takeover rumors over the past few months after its revenue dropped. CEO Mohamad Ali stepped down in July and was replaced on an interim basis by board chair Steve Munford.
Carbonite's announcement was timed to coincide with its Q3 2019 financials, which revealed a net loss of $14 million, compared to a small net income of $600,000 during the same period last year. Founded in 1991, OpenText is among Canada's biggest software companies, specializing in helping enterprises manage all their content and unstructured data in the cloud or on-premises. The company has made a number of other notable acquisitions in the recent past, including Dell EMC's enterprise content division, which it bought for $1.6 billion in 2017, and file-sharing service Hightail, formerly YouSendIt, which it bought for an undisclosed amount last year. OpenText hasn't offered any specifics around how it will leverage Carbonite's technology post-acquisition. But the latter's focus on backing up and protecting data stored in the cloud makes it easy to imagine the two platforms complementing each other as a growing number of businesses migrate to the cloud. "Following expressions of interest from multiple parties, the Carbonite board conducted a thorough and comprehensive process, which included contact with a number of strategic and financial parties, to identify the best way to maximize shareholder value," Munford said in a press release. "The board strongly believes that a transaction with OpenText delivers compelling, immediate, and substantial cash value to shareholders."
Carbonite's announcement was timed to coincide with its Q3 2019 financials, which revealed a net loss of $14 million, compared to a small net income of $600,000 during the same period last year. Founded in 1991, OpenText is among Canada's biggest software companies, specializing in helping enterprises manage all their content and unstructured data in the cloud or on-premises. The company has made a number of other notable acquisitions in the recent past, including Dell EMC's enterprise content division, which it bought for $1.6 billion in 2017, and file-sharing service Hightail, formerly YouSendIt, which it bought for an undisclosed amount last year. OpenText hasn't offered any specifics around how it will leverage Carbonite's technology post-acquisition. But the latter's focus on backing up and protecting data stored in the cloud makes it easy to imagine the two platforms complementing each other as a growing number of businesses migrate to the cloud. "Following expressions of interest from multiple parties, the Carbonite board conducted a thorough and comprehensive process, which included contact with a number of strategic and financial parties, to identify the best way to maximize shareholder value," Munford said in a press release. "The board strongly believes that a transaction with OpenText delivers compelling, immediate, and substantial cash value to shareholders."
Makes sense (Score:1)
Why not spend $1.4 billion on a company that loses money?
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That makes sense too. Why mine on Earth when you can mine in Spaaaaaace! It is my scifi dream come true.
Carbonite (Score:2)
Maybe they even get a spaceship captain encased in the stuff that they can thaw out and use.
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Why not spend $1.4 billion on a company that loses money?
They actually had positive net income in 2018. OK, yeah, not much, but still positive.
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"cloud security" (Score:2)
ha
Growth at all costs? (Score:2)
its Q3 2019 financials, which revealed a net loss of $14 million, compared to a small net income of $600,000 during the same period last year
At first glance it seems like another company trying to expand no matter what. Although their business model looks more promising than WeWork's, to be buying multi-billion dollar companies when you can barely break even is a risky move. I would like to see more companies producing something at the top of their game rather than just staying afloat. You gotta know they're sacrificing something, or many things if they're just barely breaking even.
Then again, they're not billions in the hole like Uber...
Hey (Score:2)
I thought those socialist countries with universal healthcare were teetering constantly on the brink of insolvency? I thought companies were exporting jobs to get away from the high taxes?
But they still have billions to buy other companies. It's almost like Libertarian economics is complete bullocks paid for by a self-serving wealthy elite.
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I thought those socialist countries with universal healthcare were teetering constantly on the brink of insolvency? I thought companies were exporting jobs to get away from the high taxes?
We are on the brink of insolvency and companies are leaving. Why not look at the wait times in Ontario [ontario.ca], I suggest the cities of London, Woodstock, Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Brampton. Also, don't hope for a family doctor, I have friends in Woodstock who have been waiting 15 years for one. And waiting for a specialist referral to appointment can still mean waiting a year, give you an example. I waited 13 months to see a ENT specialist, that was after I was diagnosed with menieres disease.
Ontario'
My condolences to Carbonite users (Score:2)
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They sell Enterprise Content Management software, in other words an alternative ( or various alternatives) to SharePoint. One of their products is Documentum, although as I recall they acquired that and added it to their portfolio. That means they're also competing with Lotus Connections, Google Docs for Enterprise, Box, and the built-in document-management features of every other enterprise software portfolio and SaaS service that's out there.
(Disclaimer: I work for IBM, although not for SWG and IBM sold t [techcrunch.com]