Sybase recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mobile 365, a mobile messaging and content delivery service provider, in an all cash transaction worth $425m.
Following the closing of the transaction, Mobile 365 will operate as Sybase Mobile 365, a wholly-owned subsidiary. The new subsidiary will be led by Marty Beard, Sybase’s senior vice president of corporate development and marketing, who will be named president of Sybase Mobile 365.
“Given Sybase’s leadership in enterprise mobility, this acquisition is a perfect fit. With Mobile 365’s technology, Sybase can now deliver any mobile message or application to any handset—anytime, anywhere,” said Mike Daniels, Mobile 365 executive chairman.
Once a pioneer of the relational database industry, Sybase saw misfortunes in the mid-1990s after the company’s partnership with Microsoft ended and rival Informix took over a large part of the database market. The company has bounced back under CEO John Chen and his “Unwired Enterprise” strategy, which is putting databases on mobile devices. Combining its existing database technology and its mobility products, Sybase wants to capture a large portion of the mobile database market which is expected to grow to $7.5 billion by 2008 in the U.S.via its mobility subsidiary iAnywhere.
“This acquisition extends our Unwired Enterprise vision with the addition of two new enterprise channels — wireless carriers and content providers — making Sybase the leading mobile enterprise software and services provider in the world,” said John Chen, Sybase chairman, CEO and president.