Who Bought Whom?

Your Guide to CRM Mergers & Acquisitions!

There have been a lot of acquisitions in the CRM business! Some big. Some Small. On this page, I will try to give you a guide to just who bought whom?
 
But first, let's try to examine why these acquisitions might have taken place. Why does one company buy another?

Fill In the Gaps

One reason a software company might buy another is to fill in the gaps in their own product offering. For example, a few years ago many growing CRM companies decided they needed a "configuration management system" in their lineups. So, Peoplesoft bought Calico Commerce, Pivotal bought Exactium, you get the idea.  Or, a variation on the theme, the company my buy a rival to speed the deployment of important new capabilities to their existing customer. Rightnow's recent purchase of Salesnet is a good example of this. These types of acquisitions usually work out O.K. for customers on both sides of the transaction.

We're Smarter Than They Are!

We have all done it at times, watch a company pursue a dumb strategy and just know we could do things way better! Well, if you have a pile of money (like some VC firms) and these "dumb" companies have seen their stock price beaten down, we see yet another opportunity for an acquisition. Sometimes these deals work out. More often, they don't!

Milk Those Cows!

Software is a funny business. The pain associated with changing to a new vendor is so great, many companies will put it off as long as possible. This opens the door for a "rollup" strategy, acquiring a number of fading, marginalized, or distressed software developers. Then, these consolidator vendors just sit back and milk service and maintenance fees. Sure, they might make token upgrades every now and then but meaningful product development usually grinds to a halt. These deals seldom work out well for customers of the acquired company.
 
In the multifaceted business world there may be other reasons to make an acquisition, but if you filter out the hype at the time of the announcement, I think you will agree that most acquisitions are driven by one of these reasons!

Finally, for a list of past CRM developers who are no longer with us, go to the following page: (This page is being updated)

CRM-RIP

Oracle Corporation

Oracle bought Siebel

Siebel bought Scopus

Siebel bought BoldFish, Inc.

Siebel bought Janna Systems

Siebel bought nQuire Software

Siebel bought OnLink Technologies, Inc.

Siebel bought Paragren Technologies

Siebel bought UpShot

Oracle bought PeopleSoft

PeopleSoft bought Vantive

PeopleSoft bought Annuncio Software

PeopleSoft bought Calico Commerce

PeopleSoft bought JD Edwards

JD Edwards bought YOUcentric

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft bought Great Plains Software

Great Plains Software bought Solomon Software

Microsoft bought Navision Software

Navision Software bought Axapta

SAP

SAP bought K&V

Infor

Infor bought daly.commerce

daly.commerce bought MarketMax

Infor bought Lilly Software Associates

Infor bought Mapics

Infor bought SSA Global Technologies Inc.

SSA Global bought Max International

SSA Global bought interBiz Product Group

SSA Global bought Infinium Software

Infinium Software bought Dexton Information Systems

SSA Global bought Ironside Technologies

SSA Global bought Elevon

SSA Global bought Baan

Baan bought Aurum Software

Aurum Software bought Antalys Corp.

SSA Global bought EXE Technologies, Inc.

SSA Global bought Arzoon, Inc.

SSA Global bought Marcam

SSA Global bought Boniva

SSA Global bought E.piphany

Epiphany bought Octane Software

Epiphany bought Moss Micro

Epiphany bought RightPoint

RightNow Techologies Inc.

RightNow bought Salesnet

CDC Software (chinadotcom)

CDC Software bought Pivotal

Pivotal bought Exactium

Pivotal bought Humongus

Pivotal bought MarketFirst

CDC Software bought Saratoga Systems

Maximizer Software Inc.

Maximizer bought Tracker

Maximizer bought Cognitech (SharkWare)

Frontrange Solutions Inc.

Francisco Partners bought Frontrange Solutions

FrontRange Limited (formerly Ixchange)

Frontrange Limited bought Bendata (HEAT)

Frontrange Limited bought GoldMine

Frontrange Limited bought Salesware

Frontrange Limited bought Maestro Commerce

Sage Software

Sage bought TeleMagic

Sage bought SalesLogix

SalesLogix bought ACT!

Sage bought ACCPAC

ACCPAC bought eWare

Made2Manage Systems Inc.

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Onyx Software

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Encompix Inc.

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought AXIS Computer

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Capri Corp. 

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought Products From ADS Information Systems

Made2Manage Systems Inc. bought DTR Software International

Redi-Direct Marketing (StayinFront)

Redi-Direct Marketing bought SalesBook

Redi-Direct Marketing bought Great Elk

Kana Software Inc.

Kana Software bought Hipbone

Kana Software bought Connectify

Kana Software bought Broadbase

Broadbase bought Servicesoft

Broadbase bought Panop.com

Broadbase bought Rubric

Broadbase bought Decisionism

GEDYS - Intraware

GEDYS - Intraware bought CRM from TJ Group

GEDYS - Intraware bought Relavis

Unica Corporation

Unica bought Marketsoft