Microsoft Corp. has acquired systems management vendor Opalis Software Inc. for about $60 million, according to an analyst report.
Brenon Daly, an analyst at The 451 Group, blogged earlier this week about the deal, citing unnamed financial and industry sources.
The VC-backed Mississauga, Ontario, start-up was making about $10 million annually from sales of software for automating IT processes, according to Daly. It also partnered with Microsoft in the spring (download PDF), integrating its software into Microsoft's System Center management platform.
Daly's report was echoed by blogs and tweets.
Through a spokeswoman, Microsoft said it is not commenting on rumors and speculation. Opalis, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Opalis' CEO, Todd DeLaughter, was previously general manager of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s OpenView systems management division.
Daly said the Opalis acquisition would be the fourth in this market in the past two years. HP bought Opsware for $54 million in 2007, while BMC Software Inc. acquired RealOps for $53 million. CA Inc. bought Optinuity last year. One key difference, he said, is that Opalis' revenue appeared to be higher than its counterparts' at the time of acquisition.