CA goes Platinum with £3.5bn deal

NEWS Computer Associates (CA) has acquired Platinum Technology in a cash deal valued at over $3.5bn. The move will see Platinum's database and application management tools added to a line-up of products that includes CA's market leading network management product, Unicenter TNG. Sanjay Kumar, CA president and chief operating officer, claimed there is "very little overlap" between the two companies' products, although industry watchers say both companies are strong in systems management. Redundancies are expected, even though Platinum cut around 20 per cent of its 5,000 strong workforce at the start of the year. CA has announced a hiring freeze. Tom Scholtz, senior programme director at the Meta Group, said: "The market is thinning out at the top-end, but we see a reasonable amount of choice for users as there are many smaller companies offering best of breed solutions." CA competes with IBM subsidiary - Tivoli, Hewlett-Packard's OpenView and offerings from BMC and Boole & Babbage, which agreed to merge last November. The company is financing the deal through a $4.5bn credit facility from Credit Suisse First Boston. CA said Platinum will boost its Global Professional Services (GPS) division, especially in Europe. GPS was set up just under a year ago after CA's ill-fated hostile bid for Computer Sciences Corporation.