NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) still has an appetite for acquisitions after buying three companies last year: Fortinet Systems, Hexagon System Engineering Ltd., and Orsus Ltd.. The company is in talks to acquire Israeli start-up eGlue Software Ltd., a developer of real-time customer analysis technology, for $30-40 million.
According to IVC, eGlue has raised $33 million. The company was founded in 2001 by CEO Omer Geva and SVP strategic business development Moshiko Avlagon, both members of Kibbutz Ein Shemer, and it was initially based at the kibbutz. The company's software is designed to manage customer relations on all channels: telephone, points of sale, or online. The company's solutions do this by distributing the customer's information gleaned from the customer relations management (CRM) systems to the relevant point of contact.
eGlue's product supplements NICE's own solutions. The two companies have been in contact over the years, and have had a long-standing strategic collaboration.
eGlue also has a long-standing collaboration with Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX), which so far as is known is satisfied with the present cooperation, with no other strategic option under consideration. Nevertheless, eGlue's negotiations with NICE are not exclusive, and eGlue has several other offers.
eGlue declined to comment to the report. NICE said, "The company does not respond to rumors."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 24, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010