Vmark Software Inc and Unidata Inc have finally received the go- ahead from their shareholders to complete the merger they first announced in October last year (CI No 3,263), and chosen the name Ardent Software Inc for the combined entity. Together with Unidata’s previous purchase of French object database software house O2 Technology SA, the merger propels Ardent into the top 100 software companies, with combined revenues of over $100m and around 570 staff ? some 130 less than the headcount at the three original companies. The company will be based in VMark’s Westboro, Massachusetts location, and isn’t attempting to create a complex integrated suite around its separate product lines. Instead it has formed three business units: relational technology and tools; object technology; and data warehousing tools. There are apparently no plans to merge even the businesses that are the closest ? Vmark’s Universe and Unidata’s eponymous extended relational database – which both derive from the small business database application platform, and are sold to vertical markets through third party channels. Ardent, it appears, doesn’t want to upset its channels. Some new development, such as Java class libraries currently under development, will be applicable to both product lines. The System Builder fourth generation language, which Unidata acquired back in 1995 (CI No 2,696), is also part of this unit. Aside from General Automation Inc and Pick Systems Inc itself, Ardent now has just about all of the Pick-derived market, all running on Windows NT and Unix-based hardware, with around 50,000 sites. It expects to see steady business and modest growth from the unit. The object technology business unit will concentrate on O2’s object database management system, which Ardent sees as a separate, direct sales business aimed at developers working in C++ and Java, for those who have decided to build rather than buy their systems, and for newly emerging market areas such as spatial data management. O2 is still better known in Europe than in the US, and should gain a higher international profile from the deal and more money for further investment. The third unit, data warehousing, will sell Ardent’s DataStage transformation engine, both to the Universe/Unidata combined base and to the broader marketplace. A wider range of data warehousing tools will be developed, the company said. Objects and data warehousing are seen as the key growth areas for Ardent. The company is headed by VMark’s Peter Gynes as chairman and chief executive officer, with Unidata’s David Brunel as president, and Francois Bancilon of O2 heading up the object unit. Ardent will begin trading on the Nasqaq exchange from today.
