Systems Union Group plc.

Extensity has reached an agreement with Systems Union Group plc on terms by which Extensity would acquire Systems Union, subject to certain conditions, including regulatory clearance, approval by the High Court in England and shareholder approval.

Extensity, formed earlier this year through an acquisition of Geac, the Toronto-based provider, is a large financial performance management company focusing on the needs of finance professionals, from analysts to CFOs. Extensity provides end-to-end solutions comprised of financial and performance management applications.

Systems Union is a global company, delivering financial management, reporting and performance management solutions to over 50,000 customer sites around the world. Systems Union deploys its solutions through a network of 45 corporate offices in 20 countries and 500 reseller partners.

"Extensity's acquisition of Systems Union is an important first step in our stated strategy of assembling a comprehensive range of world-class financial performance management applications," said Ken Walters, Extensity's President and CEO, in an announcement. "Through the addition of Systems Union's complementary financial and business intelligence software applications, Extensity will deliver a broad range of software solutions for financial and corporate performance management."

Consistent with its "assembler" strategy, Extensity intends to maintain and enhance the existing Systems Union product set and service its customer base. Extensity also plans to maintain and enhance its own product portfolio.

"We are going to target the mid-market, and Tier 1 companies as well," Walters said in an interview. "We see this acquisition as a key part of our plan. This gives us a strong suite to take to the market." He added, "The good news is that our product sets are complimentary."

The overall size of the combined company will be more than $500 million in revenues, Walters says, with a presence in the United Kingdom, central Europe and Asia, and with key strength in the Americas. Systems Union has some offices in the U.S., but its presence is much smaller that Atlanta-based Extensity, he says.

Commenting on the proposed acquisition, Mark Smith, the CEO and EVP of Research for Ventana Research, said, "Extensity is a key player in the financial management and performance management market. Through this move, their position and opportunity as global provider will continue to expand, with more depth and breadth and expanded customers, products and operations in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America."

Web: www.extensity.com