Actian to acquire Pervasive Software in big data deal

IDG News Service - Actian, formerly Ingres, is to acquire Pervasive Software, a vendor of cloud-based and on-premises software for data management and analysis. The deal is targeted at the growing big data market.

Under the terms of a definitive agreement announced Monday, Actian is acquiring all of Pervasive's outstanding shares for $9.20 per share, in a deal that values Pervasive at $161.9 million, the companies said.

Actian in August offered $8.50 per share in cash for Pervasive, which it increased in November to $9 per share in cash. After the unsolicited bid, Pervasive's board of directors said it asked its independent financial adviser to solicit potential bids from interested parties including Actian, regarding their interest in acquiring the company.

Products from Actian include Action Apps, which are described as lightweight, consumer-style applications that automate business actions triggered by real-time changes in data. It also offers the open-source Ingres database software and its Vectorwise analytical engine. It claims over 10,000 customers worldwide use its software to manage big data.

The Redwood City, Calif., company completed in December the acquisition of Versant, a data management company specialized in building NoSQL data management systems.

Pervasive, in Austin, Texas, offers a number of products including DataRush, an application framework and analytics engine for high speed parallel data processing. It decided on a deal with Actian "after a deliberative process and thorough assessment of our strategic alternatives," its president and CEO, John Farr said in a statement.

The acquisition will give customers access to a larger portfolio of products, and provides joint partners greater opportunity to "offer new solutions in adjacent markets," Actian said.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Pervasive is scheduled to announce its fiscal year 2013 second-quarter results after the close of market on Tuesday. The company reported in October that net income more than doubled as revenue from both product licenses and services grew in its fiscal first-quarter ended Sept. 30.