Baan, the leading provider of industry-defining enterprise application solutions for industrial enterprises and part of Invensys plc, announced today that Invensys plc has approved the sale of the company to an investment group consisting of Cerberus Capital Management, LP and General Atlantic Partners, LLC, two of the world's leading private investment firms. Backed by nearly $14 billion in investment capital, the investment group plans to employ a growth-oriented, long-term strategy to the Baan business.
During the coming months the group, which also owns SSA Global Technologies, intends to combine Baan with SSA GT into a focused Enterprise Solutions Business. SSA GT is a leading provider of enterprise solutions for process manufacturing, discrete manufacturing, consumer, services and public companies worldwide. With nearly $600 million in combined revenues and in excess of 16 500 customers the new company will have the world's largest installed base in manufacturing.
Key to the growth strategy will be the total iBaan suite and the complete set of product offerings of the combined organisation. Baan will operate globally as the Baan division of the combined entity with dedicated sales, marketing, development, consulting and support.
Baan has made significant investment in its solution offerings in the last three years including its next-generation enterprise backbone code-named 'Gemini' and its innovative integration platform, OpenWorldX. Gemini will be launched this fall at Baan World User Conferences in the US and Europe, with a launch in Asia Pacific planned for the first-half of 2004. Demonstrating strength in new sales, Baan gained 52 new name customers last quarter while also achieving record levels of customer satisfaction, a fact endorsed by research organisation Dataquest-IDC.
"The strength of Baan's solutions, loyal customer base, and dedicated employees has provided a foundation for an accelerated investment decision by Cerberus and General Atlantic," said Laurens van der Tang, President of Baan. "We have established a customer-driven company that is well positioned for growth as we begin the second 25 years of Baan."
Jane Thomson, Managing Director of Softworx, sole distributor for Baan solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, expresses delight at the financial commitment to the growth of the Baan solutions. "The deal is great news for both our current customers as well as our new customers."
Thomson adds that this move means the new combined entity will have the necessary critical mass to assume a strong leadership position in providing new generation enterprise solutions to customers in manufacturing.
"Baan has invested a lot in developing the next generation ERP systems with a current architecture and richer functionality. This will provide a viable migration path to many of SSA GT's other customers as they look to upgrade their ERP systems over the next two to three years," said John Bermudez of AMR Research.
Mike Webb, Sr VP of Information Technology at Flextronics, had this to say about the announcement: "The financial backing brought by Cerberus and General Atlantic, the improved scale of a combined Baan and SSA, as well as Baan's industry defining Enterprise Application Solutions should continue to serve Flextronics and Baan's other customers extremely well."
"Adding Baan to our investment portfolio is an opportunity for General Atlantic to provide strategic value," said William E Ford, Partner, General Atlantic Partners. "Having had previous experience with Baan we are excited about the combination of Baan and SSA and the new company's potential to assume a market leadership position."
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For more than 25 years, industrial enterprises with complex make, move and service requirements have relied on Baan to help them improve their business performance. Baan is focused on delivering industry-defining enterprise application solutions and services to discrete manufacturers in the industrial machinery and equipment, electronics, automotive, and aerospace and defence sectors. With its unrivalled domain expertise in targeted vertical industries, Baan makes it possible for customers to achieve lowest total cost of ownership and fastest time-to-value from their enterprise solutions.
For more information, please visit www.baan.com.
Softworx
Softworx, a leading South African business applications solutions provider, specialises in providing complete business solutions based on a powerful combination of leading-edge products and consultancy. Softworx offers a range of world-class solutions, which leverages off its e-commerce compliment, including: enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI). The common thread with all Softworx implementations is the guarantee of rapid deployment with measurable benefits resulting in sustainable long-term relationships with its customers. Softworx's differentiator is its guaranteed delivery, which means it can focus on its customers' success, rather than the number and size of solutions sold.
General Atlantic Partners, LLC
General Atlantic Partners, LLC, is the world's leading private equity investment firm focused exclusively on investing in information technology, process outsourcing and communications businesses globally. The firm was founded in 1980 and has over $5 billion in capital under management. General Atlantic has invested in over 120 IT companies. The firm is distinguished within the investment community by its deep experience and expertise in information technology, its global perspective and worldwide presence, its long-term approach to investments, and its commitment to provide sustained strategic assistance for its portfolio companies.
Cerberus Capital Management, LP
Cerberus Capital Management, LP is a private investment firm with committed capital of $9 billion.
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