Microsoft to acquire Navision
Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., will acquire Vedbaek, Denmark-based Navision, a provider of enterprise system and accounting software. The deal—valued at $1.3 billion—will make Navision part of Microsoft's Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions division, which also offers enterprise system and accounting software.
Executives on both sides of the deal position it as a strategic move that gains Microsoft Great Plains strength in Europe, and boosts Navision in the U.S. and other markets. The vendors also see synergies on Microsoft's .NET technology, a common focus on small-to mid-size companies, and use of indirect sales channels.
According to Doug Burgum, senior vice president of Microsoft and president of Microsoft Great Plains, the deal will "enhance our ability to deliver interconnected business solutions for small- and mid-market businesses on the .NET platform."
The deal is expected to close in August. About 86 percent of Navision's revenue is from Europe, while about 85 percent of Microsoft Great Plains revenue is from North America, which is one reason why Burgum foresees no major regulatory hurdles for the deal.
Burgum also indicates that while product plans won't be clarified until the deal closes, "There is 100-percent certainty that there will be an ongoing commitment" to Navision's main enterprise suites, Axapta and Attain, as well as Microsoft Great Plains' Dynamics and eEnterprise suites. The division will likely develop "a common code base" across its products, says Burgum, but that may take until the "second half" of the decade.
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