Notable Mergers and Acquisitions of the Day 10/21: EFX, EPIC

October 21, 2009 10:20 AM EDT

• Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) announced today it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire IXI Corporation, a leader in collecting, analyzing and delivering consumer wealth and asset data. Equifax will pay $124 million in cash for the company.
  
  "Bringing together the differentiated data and analytic capabilities of each of the companies will allow us to deliver a deeper view of the consumer that includes wealth, credit, income, spending and other demographic data ," said Dann Adams, president, Equifax Consumer Information Solutions. "The caliber and breadth of intelligence and data we'll offer will significantly improve the opportunities for our clients to acquire, expand and retain customer relationships."
  
  "We have worked closely with Equifax over the last 18 months and know their people, the solutions they offer, and their culture. I am convinced this will be a strong combination that will benefit customers and employees of both companies," said Tom Dailey, president and CEO of IXI.
  
  "This is a good match and our companies know each other well from a history of collaboration. Each of the companies excels in its particular area of the business; the skills and knowledge are complementary; and we serve similar customer bases," said Adams. "But the biggest beneficiaries will be our clients, who will have broader, deeper and more accurate customer information backed by a company with a strong tradition of protecting the security and integrity of the data entrusted to us."
  
  The closing of the transaction is subject to the usual conditions and is expected to occur in the near future.
  
  IXI was advised in the transaction by Wells Fargo Securities.
  
  
• Benchmark upgrades Epicor Software (Nasdaq: EPIC) to Buy. Price target $10.
  
  Benchmark analyst says, "Our upgrade is based on 1) firmer IT budgets and better visibility that could drive multiple expansion for the sector; 2) the Epicor 9 product cycle; and 3) good earnings surprise potential because of easier 2010 comps plus overly conservative investor expectations...With the start of the 2010 budgeting cycle only months away, we expect IT budgets to firm as customers shift from incremental savings to incremental spending. While customer purchases are likely to remain tactical and smaller in scope, we expect customers to reengage new application initiatives that were delayed or cancelled during the downturn...We believe EPIC could be a takeout candidate over the near to intermediate term: We believe management would rather pursue a sale of the Company on their own terms and timing, rather than under outside pressure from Elliott. When the standstill agreement expires, we expect Elliott to once again actively agitate for a sale of the Company. Recall that Elliot played an active role in the recent sale of MSC Software to the Symphony Technology Group and we expect the private equity firm to pursue a similar path with EPIC."
  
  To see more analyst ratings on EPIC Click Here.
  
  Epicor Software Corporation designs, develops, markets, and supports enterprise application software solutions and services.

To see all the Mergers & Acquisitions for today in real-time go to http://www.streetinsider.com/Mergers+and+Acquisitions

Related Categories

Special Reports

Stocks Mentioned

Related Entities

• Notable Mergers and Acquisitions

Add Your Comment

Name

Subject

Body

Verification can't see the text?
click here to refresh the image.
what's this?