Aliso Viejo’s Quest Software Inc., a maker of business software that helps companies get the most out of their data centers, has bought two companies in the past month.
Late last month, Quest said it agreed to buy Austin, Texas-based software maker Surgient Inc. for undisclosed terms.
Surgient makes what’s called cloud automation software, which helps corporations set up their own cloud computing networks.
Cloud computing helps companies cut data center costs by outsourcing hefty software applications onto others’ servers.
Some industry heavyweights have put their names behind Surgient, including Rod Canion, founder and former chief executive of Compaq Computer Corp. (now part of Hewlett-Packard Co.), and Bill Joy, founder and chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems Inc., among others.
Surgient was backed by a handful of venture capital firms along with other individual investors. The deal is expected to close during the current quarter.
Quest makes software that manages and improves on other business applications by Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., IBM Corp. and others.
The software automates tasks performed by technology departments and helps companies get the most out of their servers.
Earlier in July, Quest snagged Germany’s Völcker Informatik AG, a privately held maker of software that helps manage security, access and identity verification for corporations.
Terms of the deal, presumably small, weren’t disclosed.
Frequent, small deals hark back to an earlier time for Quest, when Chairman Vincent Smith was chief executive and said he liked to spend “a few hundred million” a year doing software deals.
Quest is Orange County’s third biggest software maker with some $700 million in yearly sales and had a recent market value of nearly $2 billion.
Another Software Deal
Laguna Hills-based Parallax Capital Partners, an investment firm that buys and runs software companies, recently acquired Seattle’s Daptiv Inc.
Daptiv makes Internet-based software that helps companies do project management, collaboration online and resource management.
Parallax said Daptiv sees about $20 million in yearly sales and is profitable.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
According to a report on technology news website TechFlash.com, the deal was valued at about $13 million.
Both Daptiv and Parallax declined to confirm the figure.
Daptiv, which started in 1997, had raised some $30 million in venture capital, the report said.
It’s likely that Parallax got Daptiv in a fire sale, according to reports.
Former chief executive Chase Franklin stepped down last month after less than a year on the job.
As part of the deal, Parallax said it appointed partner John Baldwin as chief executive of Daptiv.
Daptiv’s customers include Germany’s BASF SE, Harvard University, Honeywell International Inc. and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd., among others.
Parallax was started 1999 by husband and wife team James and Lisa Hale, along with partners William Koneval and Scott Lencz.
Its goal is “to invest in software and technology companies that are undergoing a business transformation in their markets or technology,” according to Baldwin.
It has invested some $150 million and acquired 19 companies in all.
India Expansion
Aliso Viejo’s UST Global Inc., which provides custom software services, outsourcing and consulting for big companies, is adding a small army of employees in Asia.
The company is looking to hire some 8,000 workers in India, a large majority of them in Trivandrum, Kerala, where the company already has some 4,000 employees. Others will be added to UST’s other Indian operations in Chennai, Kochi and Bangalore.
“That will take the India headcount to about 14,000 over the next 12 to 18 months,” Chief Executive Sajan Pillai said.
UST builds custom software for large companies in several markets, including the healthcare, insurance, finance and media sectors.
Pillai said the company wants to be well-positioned for growth amid the economic recovery.
“Companies are demanding increased productivity levels from all suppliers, including IT suppliers,” he said.
The company has smaller offices in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Chile.
Bits and Pieces
Irvine-based RFaxis Inc., a chip startup, added Hongliang Hu to its advisory board. Hu is known in the industry as the founder of China’s semiconductor industry, having started China’s first chip factory, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. … AT&T Inc., which has major operations in Anaheim, recorded its first billion-dollar revenue quarter for its U-verse suite of cable TV, telephone and Internet services. Total U-verse TV subscribers add up to 2.5 million, nearly double from the same period a year earlier … Irvine-based video game developer Ready at Dawn Studios LLC recently laid off 13 workers in a lull between games. “We simply couldn’t keep them on board while one project finishes and another ramps up,” President Didier Malenfant said on the company’s website. “Unfortunately, these are the woes of being independent.”
