Onyx Software Corp said Friday it will acquire fellow customer relationship management software vendor Market Solutions Ltd. Terms of the deal call for Onyx to hand over $5m in cash and $1m in stock – roughly 66,000 shares – in return for all of the outstanding stock of Market Solutions. In addition, Market Solution can earn up to $8m in equity over the next two years if the company meets certain performance targets.
The acquisition of UK-based Market Solutions will immediately expand the size of Onyx’s European operations four-fold, the company said. It claims the deal will effectively give it a leadership position in the burgeoning CRM market there. Market Solutions has been doing business for more than 10 years and specializes in providing of large, complex web-based CRM systems. It customers include Lloyd’s Bank, National Provident Institution, Barclay’s Global Investors, Anheuser-Busch and Virgin Atlantic.
As part of the deal, Tania Holmes, managing director of Market Solutions, will assume the role of managing director of Onyx Software UK. Onyx intends to account for the transaction as a purchase. After the announcement Friday, Onyx shares rose $0.625, or 4.2% to close at $15.625.
