Irvine-based Vision Solutions Inc., a maker of data management software, said it bought its biggest competitor, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Lakeview Technology Inc.
Terms of the deal, which closed earlier this month, weren’t disclosed. Vision Solution’s private equity parent, Chicago’s Thoma Cressey Bravo Inc., likely financed it.
Vision is in a niche market. Its software runs exclusively on iSeries servers developed by IBM Corp.
The Lakeview deal gives Vision Solutions about 80% of the market for software for the iSeries, according to spokeswoman Debbie Lewis.
Vision’s roughly 2,500 customers include casinos, banks, healthcare providers, hotels and government agencies.
Big ones include HSBC Group, ABN AMRO Holding NV, Target Corp., Comcast Cable Communications Inc., Hormel Foods Corp. and the Venetian Hotel and Casino.
Such businesses need software that will keep data secure and backed up even during maintenance or a disaster.
Vision plans to cut jobs as Lakeview is integrated, Lewis said.
It anticipates a 10% cut at Lakeview’s offices and a 5% cut at Vision in Irvine, Lewis said.
She declined to give head counts. The Business Journal estimates that Vision has about 155 workers in Irvine.
After Lakeview Technology, Vision’s closest competitors are Canada’s DataMirror Corp. and New Zealand’s Maximum Availability.
Back in October, Thoma Cressey bought Vision for $63 million.
The private equity firm also backed a Vision deal to buy Salt Lake City software maker iTera Inc. late last year.
Shortly after, Vision formally moved its headquarters to Irvine from South Africa, where the company got its start as part of Idion Technologies Holding Ltd.
Vision was the center of a takeover battle a few years back by DataMirror. The fight spanned two years and two continents.
DataMirror first bid on Vision back in 2000, when Idion won out with a $63 million bid. Toronto-based DataMirror didn’t give up. It bought up shares and once held as much as 43% of Idion.
After unsuccessful bids to gain control, DataMirror gave up trying to buy a majority stake and sold its shares in 2004.
One Less Apple Alum
Newport Beach-based Jazz Technologies Inc. said last week its President Ellen Hancock is stepping down.
Industry watchers say the move isn’t a big surprise,her work there is done.
She took the helm in 2005 along with Gil Amelio and Steve Wozniak (like Hancock, all are Apple Inc. alums) to run the holding company that later bought Jazz Semiconductor Inc. of Newport Beach.
Hancock said she’s resigning “to devote time to other business obligations,” according to a company statement.
She’ll give up her seat on Jazz’s board.
Jazz, a contract maker of chips for other companies, said it doesn’t plan to replace Hancock.
Her duties will be picked up by Amelio, Jazz’s chief executive, and Chief Financial Officer Paul Pittman, the company said.
Hancock serves on the boards of Colgate-Palmolive Co., Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Aetna Inc. She also has other advisory positions in education and with policy groups.
She has a long history in the industry.
She was chief executive of now defunct Exodus Communications Inc. from 1998 to 2001 and became chairman in 2000.
Before Exodus, Hancock was executive vice president of research and development and chief technology officer for Apple Inc.
Those jobs capped a nearly 30-year career at IBM Corp.
Military Family Sites
Here’s a warm, fuzzy moment to kick off the week.
Irvine computer maker Gateway Inc. sponsored 1,000 Web pages so military families could keep in touch with their loved ones abroad.
Two Orange County Web design companies teamed up to create Websites ForHeroes.com, which has grown after the military barred soldiers from social networking sites MySpace and YouTube a few months ago.
The site uses special compression technology that “shrinks” photos and videos as they’re uploaded so it doesn’t put as big a strain on the military’s bandwidth.
The compression software is from Irvine-based DigitalPost Interactive, which runs the Web site TheFamilyPost.com.
Michael Sawtell, DigitalPost founder, teamed up with Terry Gniffke, chief executive of Caliber Media Group in Newport Beach, to run the site.
Gniffke is a retired Marine and a Vietnam veteran.
“When Terry saw this, being a former Marine, he was almost in tears,” Sawtell said. “He said, ‘We’ve got to take this to another level.'”
Gniffke took charge of officially launching the site in October, using Sawtell’s proprietary software.
He’s working to get the word out with military colleagues and Camp Pendleton officials.
A year subscription is about $100.
The page has a calendar tool, space to upload photo slideshows, video clips and a message board.
Unlike MySpace and YouTube, which are littered with advertisements, Websites for Heroes has none. It’s password protected so that sensitive material won’t be posted for all to see.
The soldiers “use the sites to keep their families at ease,” said Mike Maloney, spokesman for the site. “It’s to show them that there is a sense of normalcy. They can be involved in their children’s lives.”
The two plan to approach other OC companies for sponsorships.
“Getting a huge company like Gateway involved is a great start,” Sawtell said.
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