Waltham, Massachusetts-based Interleaf Inc yesterday announced that it had acquired Avalanche Development Co and warned that it would report a $1m operating loss for its fiscal first quarter. Interleaf paid $5.5m cash for Avalanche, which provides document analysis and conversion technology and services, with particular emphasis on Standard Generalized Mark-up Language. Avalanche will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary from its Boulder, Colorado base. Avalanche develops software that can process large volumes of electronic documents, analysing their content and structure, so document management systems can access, control and re-use information. On the financial side, Interleaf says it expects to report a loss from ongoing operations of about $1m or $.06 per share on sales of $27m for the fiscal first quarter to June 30. It blames revenue shortfall as a result of the continued weakness in the European market and its inability to close a number of major opportunities by the end of the quarter. It will also record a $1.9m charge for an accounting change.
