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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of July 20, 1999
MERANT plc
(Translation of Registrant's Name Into English)
The Lawn, Old Bath Road, Newbury, England RG14 1QN
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file
annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F X Form 40-F _____
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(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.)
Yes X No _____
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(If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2 (b): 82-795.)
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Editorial Contacts:
Colleen Duffy Brickley
MERANT
(301) 838-5229
[email protected]
Investor Relations Contacts:
VMW, Inc.
Sylvia Dresner/Vicki Weiner
United States
(212) 616-6161
[email protected]
Mitchell Derman
FitzGerald Communications
(703) 248-7210
[email protected]
Financial Dynamics
Giles Sanderson/Edward Bridges
United Kingdom
44-171-831-3113
[email protected]
[email protected]
MERANT Agrees to Acquire The Marathon Group, a Premier Internet Professional
Services Firm
Formation of MERANT Interactive Services Enhances Ability to
Deliver Enterprise e-Business
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and NEWBURY, England - July 20, 1999 - Expanding its
territory in the enterprise application development market, MERANT (NASDAQ:
MRNT; London Stock Exchange: MRN) today announced a definitive agreement to
acquire privately-held The Marathon Group, a premier Internet professional
services firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. MERANT will pay to the Marathon
shareholders cash consideration of $15 million, subject to the terms of the
agreement. A milestone in the company's drive to provide best-in-class
enterprise solutions for the Global 500, today's announcement is a fundamental
part of MERANT's long-term strategy to better support customers' increasing
requirements to "e"-enable their enterprises. It is expected that the
transaction will be completed within the next few weeks, subject to the
satisfaction of certain closing conditions.
To create a comprehensive e-business solution that transforms a business and
delivers a competitive edge, companies must employ a full range of Internet
professional services (IPS) as well as traditional IT services. The strategic
addition of The Marathon Group will strengthen MERANT's ability to deliver
solutions from business concept, design, implementation through to deployment.
The Marathon Group is a respected and recognized provider of a full range of
Internet professional services including creative, development, marketing as
well as business strategy.
(more)
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MERANT Agrees to Acquire The Marathon Group 2-2-2-2
"By combining MERANT's existing strengths with Marathon's ability to create
innovative e-commerce, Internet, intranet and extranet sites, MERANT will help
its clients rapidly and successfully deploy web solutions that leverage their
existing technology investments," said Gary Greenfield, MERANT president and
chief executive officer. "The Marathon team clearly understands how the Internet
can be used to create business value. With an impressive customer base and the
potential capability to scale internationally, we felt the company was a good
fit to augment MERANT's strategy to provide a full range of enterprise solutions
to our customers."
With this combination, MERANT becomes one of the few companies able to
effectively deliver business solutions leveraging the strength of the enterprise
with the Internet.
Added Dave Kelly, vice president of Application Strategies at Hurwitz Group,
"Companies transitioning to e-business clearly need a total solution that
includes not just products and traditional professional services, but strategic
e-business-oriented capabilities that can help blend existing brick-and-mortar
infrastructures with the new look and business strategies required for
successful e-business initiatives."
One of the Southeast's fastest growing technology companies, The Marathon
Group's recent projects include business-to-business and business to consumer
e-commerce web sites for Healthtex, an extranet for Wrangler servicing a wide
dealer network, an intranet application for Glaxo Wellcome and a corporate
website for R.J. Reynolds.
"Marathon delivers a complete solution. In addition to incredible concept and
creative look and feel targeted to our audience of parents and children,
Marathon designed our e-commerce sites, http://www.healthtexBtoB.com and
http://www.heathtex.com so that they would leverage our existing IT
applications," said Gary Simmons, president of VF Playwear. "Marathon made it
possible for us to launch engaging and scalable sites in a very aggressive
timeframe. Marathon is a trusted partner."
Amy Robinson, manager of e-commerce services at VF Corporation echoes Simmons'
position, "Marathon understood the business reasons for building our e-commerce
sites, helped us design a strategy for fully leveraging the Internet, then
raised the bar with an engaging and dynamic user-experience."
(more)
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MERANT Agrees to Acquire The Marathon Group 3-3-3-3
Marathon will serve as the foundation of MERANT Interactive Services, a new arm
of MERANT Consulting founded with the purpose to deliver e-commerce, Internet,
intranet and extranet solutions. With a clear mission to deliver end-to-end
enterprise e-business solutions, MERANT Interactive Services will focus on the
business strategy of the Internet. A full service approach will allow MERANT
Interactive Services to deliver comprehensive e-business solutions that pay off
in new efficiencies, opportunities and a competitive edge for the customer.
According to Mike Doernberg, president of Marathon, "We see a strategic fit
between MERANT's global reach and enterprise application development expertise
and Marathon's proven experience in delivering Internet business solutions. By
combining with MERANT, we can extend our vision and drive it to a much broader
customer base."
For additional information on The Marathon Group, visit their web site at
http://www.marathongroup.com.
About MERANT
Founded in 1976, MERANT is a leader in Enterprise Application Development,
providing the products, people and processes to accelerate the customer's
business through the application of innovative information technology. MERANT
empowers organizations to transform their enterprise applications for the
changing technology and business requirements of the e-business environment,
manage the application development process, and provide integrated data
connectivity across the enterprise, from the mainframe to the Internet. A global
organization with nearly $400 million in annual revenues and more than 2,000
employees, MERANT has 500 technology partners and more than 5 million licenses
at over 35,000 customer sites - including the entire Fortune 100 and the
majority of the Global 500. For additional information on MERANT and its
solutions, visit the MERANT Web site at http://www.merant.com.
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MERANT is a trademark of MERANT International Limited.
Marathon Group is a trademark of Essential Software, Inc.
All other trademarks as they appear in this release are the property of their
respective owners.
The following statement is made in accordance with the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements
concerning future matters, including the features and functions of, and markets
for, products and services offered by MERANT, MERANT's business plans and
strategies, and the management and integration of businesses to be acquired. In
addition, the transactions described in this release are contingent on the
satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the approval of the Marathon
shareholders, and there can be no assurance that such transactions will be
completed. Actual results might differ materially from the results discussed in
the forward-looking statements. These forward- looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors discussed in the
Registration Statement on Form F-4 relating to the INTERSOLV acquisition,
MERANT's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended January 31, 1998 and
Quarterly Reports on Form 6-K for the quarters ended April 30, 1998, July 31,
1998, October 31, 1998 and INTERSOLV's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended April 30, 1998 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
July 31, 1998, each as filed or submitted (as the case may be) with the SEC, as
they may be updated and amended with future filings. MERANT assumes no
obligation to update the forward-looking statements and information contained in
this release.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
MERANT plc
(Registrant)
Date: July 20, 1999 By: /s/ Kenneth A. Sexton
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Kenneth Sexton
Chief Financial Officer
