CA (NYSE:CA), one of the world`s largest IT management software companies, has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wily Technology, a leading provider of enterprise application management solutions, for $375 million in an all-cash transaction.
"Application management is key to enabling customers to manage IT environments from end-to-end - from applications to infrastructure - and delivering on CA`s Enterprise IT Management vision," said CA President and CEO John Swainson.
"Wily is the leader in this sector and the fastest growing major company in a fast growing market. With this acquisition, CA will be the only company to address the management of applications, IT assets and users across all hardware and software, from the mainframe to the distributed environment."
Wily provides end-to-end visibility into customer transactions in real-time, and enables IT organisations to successfully manage the health and availability of their critical enterprise applications and infrastructure. Its solutions allow IT managers to rapidly detect and diagnose application slowdowns and failures, and better assess the impact of application performance on business success, resulting in better customer service and higher IT productivity. Wily`s revenues grew by 48% in 2004 (audited) and 2005 revenues are expected to increase 75% (unaudited), a rate that is more than three times as fast as the overall growth of its market segment. CA expects Wily to contribute approximately $72 million of revenue in CA`s fiscal year 2007 on a ratable basis. Billions of Web transactions a day are monitored by Wily`s software - more transactions for more customers than all its competitors combined. Wily`s technology is installed in more than 450 leading enterprises and government organisations worldwide.
Wily is positioned in the Leader`s Quadrant of Gartner`s Magic Quadrant for J2EE Application Server Management, 2005 (1); according to Gartner, leaders are vendors that are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market. Additionally, Gartner is forecasting that the application management market, based on new licence revenue, will exceed $1 billion in 2007, and is estimated to reach $1.355 billion in 2009 (2).
"Wily has defined and become the leader in this sector by focusing on customer success," said Wily Technology CEO Dick Williams. "With CA, we can reach more organisations than ever before with our innovative technology, expert people and best practices. And, by accelerating our development and integrating our technology with CA`s solutions, we will be able to deliver a scope of management products unmatched by anyone else. I`m excited to be joining the CA team and for the opportunity to build a best-in-class enterprise management software company."
At the close of the transaction, Wily will operate as the Wily Technology division within CA`s Enterprise Systems Management business unit. Williams will join CA and lead the division, and Lewis Cirne, Wily`s founder and chief technology officer will also join the company. CA expects to retain most of Wily`s more than 260 employees. Product integration roadmaps will be available about 30 days after the close of the acquisition.
The acquisition is expected to be completed within three months, pending regulatory approval, and is expected to be dilutive to CA`s earnings per share in fiscal 2006 and neutral to earnings per share in fiscal 2007.
Conference call
CA will host a conference call to discuss the transaction at 10am EST today. Investors and media can access the call via Webcast at http://ca.com/invest, or by calling 800-729-6829.
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The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 4 April 2005 by Gartner, Inc and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner`s analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
CA
CA (NYSE: CA), one of the world`s largest information technology (IT) management software companies, unifies and simplifies the management of enterprise-wide IT. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, New York, and serves customers in more than 140 countries. For more information, please visit http://ca.com.
Wily
Wily is the market-leading provider of enterprise application management solutions. By providing end-to-end visibility into customer transactions in real-time, Wily`s products enable companies to successfully manage the health and availability of their critical Web applications and infrastructure. Wily`s collaborative management approach allows enterprises to rapidly detect and diagnose application slowdowns and failures, and better assess the impact of application performance on business success. This means better customer service, more stable revenue streams, and higher IT productivity.
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