FileNet Corp.’s Costa Mesa headquarters is expected to become a major center for one of IBM Corp.’s software groups.
Big Blue’s $1.6 billion acquisition of FileNet isn’t expected to close until the fourth quarter,and some have speculated that rival bidders for the software maker may emerge.
But IBM is moving ahead with plans to turn FileNet’s Costa Mesa campus into the headquarters for its unit that produces enterprise content management software, said Lee Roberts, chief executive of FileNet.
The move would combine FileNet’s 1,700 employees with IBM’s enterprise content management workers, giving Costa Mesa oversight of about 4,000 employees, Roberts said. IBM has about 340,000 workers in total.
The move also would give FileNet’s team responsibility of roughly $850 million in annual revenue. FileNet’s yearly sales are expected to hit more than $450 million.
“This is going to be huge,” Roberts said.
Roberts declined to say who would head the unit. But he did say that “100% of the management team is staying.”
He expects IBM to make an announcement on the unit’s leadership once the acquisition is closer to being finalized. IBM announced its plan to buy FileNet on Aug. 10.
IBM gets a leg up in the fast-growing enterprise content management market with its FileNet buy.
For more on this story, see the Aug. 21 edition of the Business Journal.
