Sybase buys Extended Systems for $71 million

Sybase said Friday it has agreed to buy Extended Systems, a software maker that, like Sybase, focuses on database and mobile-access technology. Sybase will pay $71.3 million in cash for the Boise, Idaho, company.

Dublin, California-based Sybase plans to integrate Extended Systems into its iAnywhere Solutions subsidiary, which focuses on mobility software. Among the technologies Sybase picks up in the deal is Extended Systems’ flagship OneBridge Mobile Platform, which offers mobile access to custom and commercial enterprise applications. Sybase hopes the acquisition will improve its market position in Europe, where Extended Systems has a significant customer presence.

Extended Systems’ stock (ticker symbol: XTND) trades on the Nasdaq exchange, where its share price was up 27 percent in afternoon trading, to $4.37, on news of Sybase’s takeover deal. Sybase’s offer works out to around $4.46 per share, a 30 percent premium on Extended Systems’ Thursday closing price of $3.44 per share. For the first nine months of Extended Systems’ 2005 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the company reported net income of $3.3 million on revenue of $29.4 million.

Pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, the companies expect the deal to close in the fourth calendar quarter of this year.