In a merger of two Massachusetts software firms, Ascential , of Westborough, Mass., will
buy Torrent Systems, of Cambridge, Mass., for $46 million in cash.
Ascential’s products organize vast amounts of disparate, unrefined data for large companies, while Torrent’s applications provide a framework for data analysis and
warehousing. Most of Torrent’s 60 employees will join Ascential.
“The combination allows us to immediately come to market with an integrated, high-end offering rather than developing it internally and delaying time to market,” said
Peter Gyenes, Ascential’s chairman and CEO.
Industry analysts like the deal.
“Scalability for data warehousing and the broader corporate information infrastructure often is driven not by the physical storage of the data but by the applications
and operations that move and transform the data for business use,” said Henry Morris, of IDC. “With this acquisition, Ascential gains critical parallel
software technology to improve the scalability of DataStage.”
The merger comes eight months after the two companies formed a partnership whereby Torrent technology was integrated into Ascential’s DataStage XE product.
The close relationship should help make the merger smoother.
“As a strategic business partner of Ascential, we at Torrent have been working in close harmony for many months, and are proud to join the Ascential and
DataStage team,” said Torrent founder Robert Utzschneider, who is joining Ascential to lead the original equipment manufacturer business development
team.
Shares of ASCL closed at 3.75 on Tuesday. In the last 52 weeks, the issue has ranged from 2.525 to 8.25. Torrent is privately held.
