Software giant Oracle Corp. announced it’s spending about $220 million to buy Portal Software Inc., a firm that develops billing and revenue management solutions for the communications and media industries. Oracle cited its long commitment to the communications industry and noted that its Siebel Telecom applications are used in many telecom call centers for customer care. The company said Portal offers a billing and revenue management solution with an object-oriented architecture built on Oracle’s platform that can bill and manage all communications services including wireline, wireless, broadband, cable, Voice over Internet Protocol, IP-TV, music and video. Under terms of the acquisition, Oracle said Portal’s management and employees would form a communications business unit within Oracle and will concentrate on billing and revenue management.
Mobile software developer Comverse Technology Inc. said it will spend up to $180 million in cash to acquire privately held Netcentrex S.A. Paris-based Netcentrex makes software for VoIP services as well as IP-based video and data offerings and fixed-mobile solutions for service providers. The company generated about $50 million in revenues last year. The deal is expected to close by July 1, the companies said, and is projected to be neutral to Comverse’s fiscal 2006 earnings.
Software developer Salesforce.com plans to spend $15 million to acquire privately held mobile software company Sendia Corp. Sendia’s technology supports Web-based applications across mobile devices, and the companies first partnered in 2004 to extend Salesforce.com’s offerings to wireless. Salesforce.com, which specializes in customer relationship management software, said the acquisition would allow it to expand its AppExchange Mobile offering. Devices that support the mobile offering include Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, Intel’s Centrino, PalmOS, RIM OS and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile. Sendia President Alex Klyce was named general manager of the AppExchange Mobile Business Unit for Salesforce.com.
