Nextance is no More -- the Versata Acquisiton
With all of the news and posturing about the Ariba / Procuri deal this week, it would be easy to overlook another acquisition in the sector. And this deal, of course, was Versata's acquisition of Nextance, a contract management vendor perhaps as well known for its innovative marketing as its functional strengths. Even though I had a couple of trusty colleagues and contacts tip me off to the acquisition before hand, I was too heads down to cover it. This, I admit, was mistake, as they deal shows that there's life left in them there contract management hills.
According to the announcement, Versata "announced the acquisition of privately held Nextance ... Terms of the agreement were not disclosed." As I look at the deal, it feels like much more of an Infor-like enterprise software roll-up play than one filled with significant product or customer synergies. But there's nothing wrong with that, as vendors that have a core competence in acquisition integration have got a much better chance of pulling off this sort of thing than those dabbling in deals (which I observed firsthand earlier in my career).
Look for further coverage and analysis of the contract management sector -- including Versata -- when I return from my China trip in October.
- Jason Busch
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Jason said to look for further coverage in October ... I said it wasn't mentioned on either web site and not all that interesting. Whether or not it's worth mentioning seems to be beside the point since someone put it on the newswire, Jason mentioned it, and, by commenting, I acknowledged it.
The key point, to me, is whether or not it's interesting. Is the acquisition interesting if the VCs just wanted to wash their hands of Nextance? Is the acquisition interesting if Trilogy/Versata wants to do like Infor and Oracle before them and CA before them and gobble up every smaller vendor they can get a sweat deal on just so they can offer a broad suite of applications? Is the acquisition interesting because Nextance raised so much money and had, at least in my view, an interesting Enterprise Contract Management Product (which I have blogged about in the past)?
Some people will think so. Some for these reasons, some for other reasons, and some just because they naturally find M&A activity interesting. Personally, I don't think plain old M&A activity, or M&A activity just for the purpose of growing bigger, acquiring customers, or saying you can check another box on a potential customer's RFQ is interesting in itself. If there's a good reason behind it, accompanied by a good strategy and the expectation that this will allow the company to do more than its competitors, keep innovating, or allow for a unique position - then that is interesting. However, until such is announced, or appropriate insights publicly shared, then it's just another example of M&A frenzy ... and, to me, that's just not interesting.
Maybe I'm just a contrarian.