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LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
Editorial Contacts:
Colleen Duffy Brickley
MERANT
(301) 838 5229
[email protected]
Investor Relations Contacts:
Larry De'Ath Giles Sanderson/Edward Bridges
MERANT Financial Dynamics
(301) 838 5228 44 (0) 207 831 3113
[email protected] [email protected]
MERANT ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE ENTERPRISELINK
EnterpriseLink Broadens MERANT's Solution to Extend Existing Applications for
E-Business
www.merant.com - Nov. 8, 1999 - MERANT (Nasdaq National Market (NNM): MRNT ;
London Stock Exchange (LSE): MRN), today announced that it has entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire privately-held EnterpriseLink Technology
Corporation, an innovative supplier of enterprise extension software. The
acquisition enhances MERANT's ability, through the MERANT Egility(TM) framework,
to integrate and extend existing applications to quickly e-enable the
enterprise. In connection with the planned acquisition, MERANT will pay to the
EnterpriseLink shareholders cash consideration of up to approximately $22
million, subject to the terms of the agreement, and will be assuming
EnterpriseLink's stock option plan.
With this acquisition, MERANT will broaden its capability to help companies
leverage their existing assets by safely extending their critical business
processes and data to the Web. EnterpriseLink delivers innovative products that
provide reliable, scalable and secure server-based access to enterprise
applications and data via the Web. With its non-invasive approach to Web
enablement, EnterpriseLink helps to accelerate e-business initiatives while
assisting a company's extension of existing applications.
"Worldwide, our customers are realizing that rebuilding their enterprise
applications from scratch to move to e-business is not a viable option. Our
customers often have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in their
enterprise infrastructure. Add to that the mounting competitive pressure to
deliver e-business quickly and it's no wonder that companies look to deploy
e-business solutions that leverage their existing technology investments," said
Gary Greenfield, MERANT president and chief executive officer. "No one
understands this imperative and how to leverage enterprise applications better
than MERANT. Adding EnterpriseLink capabilities to our existing MERANT Egility
solutions further enhances our ability to help our customers move to the e-world
safely and with speed."
MERANT's unique combination of premier technologies, enterprise application
development expertise and e-business experience offers companies a powerful
resource to help transform existing businesses to e-business. EnterpriseLink
offers a combination of development tools and server technology that enables an
enterprise to rapidly harness the power of the Internet by extending and
presenting existing applications to the end-user in a Web interface, while
leaving the application code unchanged on its original platform.
According to Jeffrey Dunn, president and chief executive officer of
EnterpriseLink, "MERANT and EnterpriseLink have the same strategic goal - to
rapidly e-enable the enterprise. By joining MERANT, we can extend our vision and
bring our product to a much broader, worldwide customer base. The MERANT sales
and marketing machine coupled with its complementary technologies and consulting
services make this combination ideal."
EnterpriseLink's suite of products will be an integral part of MERANT Egility
solutions to transform and integrate existing enterprises for e-business. MERANT
Egility is the framework for rapidly enabling existing businesses to compete in
e-business. MERANT delivers Egility solutions for creating e-business strategy,
building e-commerce sites, extending enterprise applications, accessing and
integrating data and applications, managing web content, developing web
applications, and more.
If the transaction were closed today, it would result in the assumption of
EnterpriseLink stock options to acquire up to approximately 700,000 MERANT
ordinary shares at exercise prices between approximately GBP 0.22 and GBP 2.62
per ordinary share. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange (LSE)
for any ordinary shares to be issued on exercise of stock options to be admitted
to the LSE Official List, subject to allotment. It is expected that the
transaction, which will be accounted for as a purchase for U.S. accounting
purposes, will be completed within the next few weeks, subject to the
satisfaction of certain closing conditions.
About EnterpriseLink Technology Corporation
EnterpriseLink Technology Corporation makes it possible for major corporations
to rapidly create e-business solutions using an object-oriented development
approach to save time and money. The company is an innovative premier provider
of Internet and extranet solutions that connect existing enterprise resources,
including ERP, CRM, and SFA applications, over the Web for a broad array of
e-business purposes. Tens of thousands of users connect to enterprise
applications every day using SmartTran servers. EnterpriseLink is headquartered
in Campbell, California. The company's products are sold directly by
EnterpriseLink and through resellers. Additional information is available at
www.enterpriselink.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. The
MERANT Egility framework 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 www.merant.com.
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 certain closing conditions and the approval of the
EnterpriseLink 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 MERANT's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended April 30,
1999, as filed or submitted with the SEC and as it may be updated and amended
with future filings. MERANT assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking
statements and information contained in this release.
MERANT is a trademark of MERANT. EnterpriseLink is a registered trademark, and
SmartTran is a trademark, of EnterpriseLink Technology Corporation. All other
trademarks as they appear in this release are the property of their respective
owners.
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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: November 8, 1999 By: /s/ Kenneth A. Sexton
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Kenneth A. Sexton
Chief Financial Officer
