SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Palm Inc. announced it will acquire longtime partner ThinAirApps Inc. for $19 million in common stock, a move Palm hopes will bolster its corporate wireless strategy with the addition of ThinAirApps’ wireless corporate e-mail and enterprise data software products.
Palm said its Solutions Group, which runs the company’s operating system business, will gain an end-to-end solution that includes devices, servers and client software, valuable software assets that could lead to recurring revenue and application licensing, and enterprise software that makes it easier for corporations to standardize on the Palm platform.
“Acquiring ThinAirApps is a lynchpin of our long-term enterprise and wireless strategies,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Palm’s Solutions Group. “This move, combined with our previous acquisition of Actual Software Corp., will give us the server-side and client-side software needed to provide integrated, end-to-end messaging solutions for the enterprise customer in our next-generation wireless products, and, ultimately, to expand the benefits of wireless to ever broader markets.”
The move comes shortly after Palm issued a $50 million convertible note to an investor it did not identify. Palm also recently delayed the introduction of its highly anticipated wireless integrated device because of what it said was tight corporate spending.
The company’s stock was trading up slightly to about $3.70 per share.
