Comshare Inc, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan has announced an agreement to buy the assets and business of Execucom Systems Corp, and subject to final accounting, the acquisition will cost $12m – $5m in cash with Comshare assuming Execucom’s liabilities for the remainder. Both are decision support-executive information system software companies, but Comshare has concentrated on IBM and DEC environments while the other is also known for its Unix offerings. Comshare says Execucom has revenues of $19m a year and 600 customers under annual maintenance contracts, and the company stresses that it is seeking to maximise Execucom’s relationships with its blue chip base, although it is believed to be unprofitable at present. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MPSI Systems Inc, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and MSPI is to become a value-added reseller of Comshare-Execucom products. Richard Crandall, Comshare’s president and chief executive officer, acknowledges that integrating the two companies will be expensive, although he anticipates that earnings will not be impacted significantly. There will be rationalisation of management and administrative functions, which means some job losses, but Comshare will retain Execucom’s research and development staff. Comshare’s international operations report to its London headquarters, and buying Execucom with European offices in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK, representing about 20% of Execucom’s worldwide revenue, means the UK will have responsibility for over half of Comshare’s business.
