Troubled component-based modeling and management tools provider Select Software Tools Inc is in merger talks with Base Ten Systems Inc. Select and the pharmaceutical software house say they are are in the early stages of discussions over a possible link-up.
Dave Norris, senior VP at Select, admits that the Irvine, California-based company, which also has headquarters in Cheltenham, England, has had a rough time since its shares started to plunge last July and the company’s market capitalization is now very, very low. He says that what the company hopes to gain from any merger is a stronger looking balance sheet.
Base Ten Systems works on manufacturing execution systems (MES) for pharmaceutical plants – linking the plant’s various enterprise and laboratory systems. Norris says that Base Ten could gain from greater componentization of its current software, work that Select can undertake for the Trenton, New Jersey firm.
Currently Norris does not know if jobs will be lost at Select if the merger goes ahead. However, he tried to paint a rosy picture of the future. He suggested that none of the products the two firms work on now clash and that most of their offices are based well apart, with Select having a stronger presence in Europe. He said that the firms would be issuing a statement on the merger in a few months.