Update: Infor to buy asset tracking apps vendor

Continuing to build a portfolio of ERP (enterprise resource planning) software through acquisitions, Infor Global Solutions on Thursday announced an agreement to pay $216 million in cash to acquire Datastream Systems, a maker of asset performance management software.

Based in Greenville, South Carolina, Datastream has been in business nearly two decades and has a customer base of more than 6,700 organizations. Its software, including its flagship Datastream 7i, helps customers track and manage capital assets like manufacturing equipment, buildings and vehicle fleets. Infor, with headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia, has used acquisitions to assemble a portfolio of enterprise applications aimed at the manufacturing and distribution industry.

Datastream generates annual revenue of nearly $100 million and is profitable, according to Infor Chief Executive Officer Jim Schaper. With Datastream’s particular strengths in the process manufacturing, discrete manufacturing, life sciences and oil and gas industries, it aligns well with Infor’s market targets, he said.

“Our customers have been asking us for these types of products,” Schaper said. He estimates that the two vendors already have about 1,000 joint customers.

Datastream is a public company that had traded on the Nasdaq exchange, but it lost its listing in July after failing to file financial reports on schedule. The company has been investigating accounting deficiencies in its foreign operations, particularly in China. That investigation led to several restatements of past results and delayed Datastream’s filing of required quarterly reports. Datastream’s stock currently trades on the Pink Sheets (ticker symbol: DSTM.PK), a quotation system that tracks over-the-counter securities not trading on any of the major stock exchanges.

Datastream’s shares ended trading Wednesday at $8.79. Infor has agreed to pay $10.26 per share, a 14 percent premium. Pending regulatory and stockholder approvals, Infor expects the deal to close in the second quarter.

Infor plans layoffs among Datastream’s legal, human resources, financial and other corporate support staff, but expects most of Datastream’s 600 employees to remain with the company. Infor is looking to invest in Datastream’s business rather than make deep cuts, Schaper said.

Venture capital-backed Infor was created three years ago as an umbrella for an assortment of ERP software for customers in industries including life sciences, food and beverage, automotive and chemicals. Its recent acquisitions include specialist PLM (product life cycle management) maker Formation Systems and the ERP assets of Geac Computer. The privately held company now has revenue approaching $800 million annually, according to company executives.