Taking aim at its toughest competitors, Business Objects SA is acquiring Acta Technology Inc., a privately-held supplier of data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) software.

The $65 million cash deal, announced today, adds to Business Objects' line of analytical apps the tools needed to extract data from operational apps such as those from PeopleSoft or SAP and move it to a data mart or data warehouse for analysis. Analytical apps are used to analyze data in such areas as customer-relationship management and supply-chain management.

The move puts Business Objects in direct competition with Informatica Corp., a long-time supplier of data-integration and ETL tools that has been expanding its line of analytical apps. Rival Cognos Inc. markets its analytical apps with its DecisionStream ETL software.

Though Business Objects CEO Bernard Liautaud says his company isn't planning to become a player in ETL, the software is "an important component" in an analytical-application product line.

Not all 125 Acta employees will be offered jobs; those that are will be relocated to Business Object's U.S. headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Acta, in Mountain View, Calif., has 230 customers, including Chevron, Shell, and Unilever. It had sales of about $25 million in 2001. The deal, already approved by each company's board, is expected to close this quarter.