In a Teutonic transaction not likely to be surpassed unless applications giant SAP is ever acquired, Software AG announced today that it has issued a tender offer for IDS Scheer AG, the business process modeling and optimization vendor... My take is that IDS-Scheer executives saw continued independence as unsustainable long term.

Doug Henschen, Executive Editor, Enterprise Apps

July 13, 2009

2 Min Read

In a Teutonic transaction not likely to be surpassed unless applications giant SAP is ever acquired, Software AG announced today that it has issued a tender offer for IDS Scheer AG, the business process modeling and optimization vendor. Software AG and IDS Scheer have much in common, including their roots in Germany and their common focus on business process management. Both companies have also sought to gain marketshare in the vast North American market; Software AG made headway in 2007 by acquiring WebMethods while IDS Scheer has favored organic growth.Software AG is the larger, faster-growing and more aggressive of the two organizations, and my take is that IDS Scheer's major stockholders, founder Professor Dr. August-Wilhelm Scheer, 68, and Professor Dr. Alexander Pocsay, 56, saw continued independence as unsustainable long term. The two executives have "already undertaken to accept the offer for all shares in IDS Scheer AG held by them," according to a statement released by Software AG.

IDS Scheer was, for many years, a close strategic partner to SAP and it continues to have thousands of joint customers. But with the applications giant and other OEM partners including Oracle now developing and acquiring their own BPM technologies and components, IDS Scheer has faced increased competition. The combined entity will have more market clout and more of the SOA and transactional infrastructure required by IT complete a total BPM environment.

Software AG has both partnered (notably with Fujitsu Software) and acquired (notably WebMethods) to fuel its global growth. The company has 3,500 employees and derived a third of its €720 million (roughly $1 billion) in total 2008 revenue from the North American market. IDS Scheer has 2,840 employees and reported €400 million ($560 million) in revenue in 2008.

Software AG highlighted the "specialist expertise of IDS Scheer's consultancy business," as a key motivator of the acquisition. "This consulting expertise is of use for the customer-specific implementation of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) and BPM/BPA solutions, particularly in SAP environments."In a Teutonic transaction not likely to be surpassed unless applications giant SAP is ever acquired, Software AG announced today that it has issued a tender offer for IDS Scheer AG, the business process modeling and optimization vendor... My take is that IDS-Scheer executives saw continued independence as unsustainable long term.

About the Author(s)

Doug Henschen

Executive Editor, Enterprise Apps

Doug Henschen is Executive Editor of InformationWeek, where he covers the intersection of enterprise applications with information management, business intelligence, big data and analytics. He previously served as editor in chief of Intelligent Enterprise, editor in chief of Transform Magazine, and Executive Editor at DM News. He has covered IT and data-driven marketing for more than 15 years.

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