Sybase gets partners into bed with $92m XcelleNet buy

Database vendor Sybase has announced today that it is acquiring device management software company XcelleNet for $95.2m.

The acquisition will bring Sybase over 2,000 additional customers and new partners including HP, Palm and Microsoft.

Xcellenet will expand Sybase's mobile software portfolio, including boosting the company's security offering and enhancing its frontline remote device management, giving the IT departments and management better control over business activity on- and off-site.

Following on from some less than stellar results last year, the company has been diversifying its portfolio. In June 2003, it spent $25m expanding its Wi-Fi presence with a series of initiatives, including opening a Wi-Fi competency centre.

John Chen, Sybase's CEO, said that he expected the acquisition to give the company's mobile software a broader array of mobile products. "We can now offer our enterprise clients a full portfolio of solutions for the management of their remote and mobile systems - from security to network connections and even the devices themselves," he said in a statement.

Xcellenet will be brought into Sybase's iAnywhere mobile subsidiary. The all-cash deal will be finalised in the second quarter of this year, with the help of an investment from Francisco Partners.