Agile Software Wednesday said it had acquired
privately-held Tradec including key members its support and engineering
team.
Both San Jose, Calif.-based companies focus on supply chain management
software, which helps bring a product from the drawing board to the store
shelves.
Execs said the acquisition enhances Agile’s Product Cost Management
platform and positions the company as a product lifecycle management (PLM)
player. The goal is to use Tradec’s technology to improve Agile’s analytics
capabilities and supplier collaboration for its customers. The list includes
nearly 1200 companies such as Alcatel, Boeing, Dell, Flextronics
International, Hitachi, Leapfrog, Lockheed Martin, Magna Steyr, Siemens and
QUALCOMM.
The acquisition also establishes a relationship for Agile with Avnet, a
Tradec partner that specializes in bringing affordable cost management
solutions to small and mid-size companies. Agile also said it would begin
offering a migration path for Tradec customers.
“Acquiring Tradec is part of our long term strategy to build market share
within the PLM sector. We are delighted to bring Tradec customers,
technology and talent into Agile,” said Agile CEO Bryan Stolle said in a
statement. “With this acquisition, we extend the analytics and market
content within our products, while bringing more than 5,500 additional
suppliers into the fold. We believe this will increase the value of the
solutions we offer for our product cost management and direct materials
sourcing customers.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
This is Agile’s fifth acquisition in the past 12 months. The company has
also managed to eke out purchases of Eigner, MS2, ProductFactory and oneREV
on its road to better compete with the likes of SAP, MatrixOne and Dassault
“The acquisition of Tradec not only extends Agile’s leadership position
in product cost management, but solidifies Agile’s role as PLM market
consolidator,” said Aberdeen Group analyst Tim Minahan. “Agile’s product
cost management solutions provide the requisite collaboration, costing and
sourcing execution capabilities to enable manufacturers to align design and
sourcing processes across multiple tiers of the supply chain to optimize
product costs and drive innovation.”
Shares of Agile stock rose 21 cents on the news to end the day Wednesday at $9.73.
