E.piphany to Buy Octane Software for $3 Billion in Stock
E.piphany Inc., San Mateo, CA, a maker of software that analyzes data collected from Web sites, call centers and direct mail, has agreed to buy closely-held Octane Software Inc. for about $3.19 billion in stock.
The company said in a statement that it will issue about 12.8 million shares for Octane whose software allows companies to track customers through e-mail, Internet sites and phone calls. E.piphany shares fell almost 25% yesterday amid fears that the purchase price was too high.
Together, the two companies serve more than 125 companies involved in industries ranging from electronic commerce to financial services to consumer-packaged goods including American Express Co., Autoweb.com Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. Charles Schwab Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Octane shareholders will own about 26.5% of the combined company. Octane’s investors include Lucent Venture Partners, a venture fund created by Lucent Technologies Inc., Norwest Venture Partners and Sigma Partners.
The purchase marks the second acquisition for E.piphany this year. It bought closely held RightPoint Inc. in January to improve its tracking of customer-buying patterns.
