News

Serena CEO outlines Merant plan

• By Michael W. Bucken
• May 4, 2004

Serena Software last week said that its acquisition of rival Merant is "assured" as holders of more than 90% of Merant stock have agreed to accept the San Mateo, Calif.-based firm's offer. Officials said the deal will close on May 13. As reported on www.adtmag.com on March 4, Serena moved to buy Merant in early March for $380 million in cash and stock.

Serena, a maker of mainframe-based configuration management tools, is looking to Merant's PVCS and Dimensions products to boost its place in the desktop SCM world, Serena President and CEO Mark Woodward told eADT. He contended that the deal immediately makes Serena "the number two [SCM] player behind IBM Rational and I believe we have a stronger story. We now have a highly integrated technology that runs across WebSphere, .NET and everything else."

Woodward estimated the combined firm's installed base at 15,000 customers, which he said will offer Serena many opportunities for cross-selling products.

In its latest iteration, Merant focused on selling the PVCS, Dimensions and Tracker tools that it retained following the dismantling of its predecessor firm that was formed from the merger of Micro Focus and Intersolv in 1999. Just two years later, Merant sold off the Micro Focus and DataDirect units to venture capitalists, moved its headquarters from Rockville, Md., to Hillsboro, Ore., and focused on selling the remaining SCM tools.

Woodward, who spent 18 months at Merant predecessor Intersolv between two stints at the former Legent, conceded that Merant's recent past has been "kind of ugly," but said the new management team overseeing the Hillsboro operation has been able to get the firm moving forward again.

He declined to discuss personnel plans except to say that Serena "will keep a lot of the Oregon group, especially in sales and marketing" and the PVCS development team. He also declined to discuss finances because "both companies are in the last days of the quarter."