Vignette Acquires OnDisplay for $1.7 Billion

eBusiness application supplier Vignette Corp. Monday signed an agreement to purchase OnDisplay Inc. for $1.7 billion in stock.

Each outstanding share of OnDisplay will be exchanged for 1.58 shares of Vignette based on fully diluted shares outstanding and both companies’ closing price as of Friday. Vignette will account for the transaction using purchase accounting and expects to close the transaction in the third quarter, subject to approval by Ondisplay’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions.

Vignette will combine its V/5 suite with OnDisplay’s XML-based business-to-business infrastructure products — including eBizXchange, eIntegrate, eContent, eNotify, eSyndicate and XML Connect — to create a comprehensive solution for building businesses online.

Greg Peters, president and chief executive officer of Vignette, said OnDisplay’s market momentum, customers and XML-centric architecture are a complement to Vignette. Vignette’s V/5 eBusiness Platform provides an open and scaleable high-performance architecture, a suite of integrated products providing personalization, content management, campaign management, customer analysis, syndication and multi-channel communications capabilities.

After the acquisition, Vignette will have about 2,000 employees, 870 customers and global operations reaching from the U.S. to South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. It also adds trading networks and online marketplaces to Vignette’s customer base. OnDisplay’s customers span the manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences and construction industries, including: W.W. Grainger, Sciquest.com, FuelQuest.com, PurchasePro.com, Harbinger.net, Aspect Development and TPN Register. The two companies already share more than 20 customers, including The Associates Corp., PurchasingCenter.com, QuestLink Technology Inc., Sabre, Travelocity.com, The Tribune Corp., and Trip.com.

“Together we now provide the industry’s only true end-to-end solution,” said Mark Pine, chairman and chief executive officer of OnDisplay. “The vision, technology and cultural fit with Vignette will create an unbeatable combination for our customers to build their online businesses.”