NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) has acquired California-based service and sales performance management solutions provider Merced Systems Inc. for $150 million.
NICE will also pay up to $20 million in cash subject to Merced meeting certain performance targets. NICE expects to close the acquisition during the first quarter of 2012. NICE expects Merced to add $55 million to 2012 to its non-GAAP revenue and $0.10 earning per share in 2012.
Merced provides software as a service (SaaS) Service Performance Management solution provides performance analytics and dashboards, service coaching, incentive management and real-time reporting for enterprise service personnel. Its Sales Performance Management provides incentive and quota management, performance analytics and dashboards, sales development and coaching, and other analytics solutions.
Merced's customers include Bell Canada Inc. (NYSE; TSX: BCE), BG Group plc (NYSE; LSE: BG), Britain's Co-Op Bank, The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO), Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL), Delta Airlines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), Dish Network Corporation (NASDAQ: Dish), US HMO Kaiser Permanente, US insurance company Liberty Mutual Group Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: V)and mobile carriers, Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S), and T-Mobile International AG.
NICE said that integrating Merced's solutions would create a closed-loop performance management solution, adding capabilities such as real-time interaction analytics and real-time customer feedback to traditional data sources will deliver more accurate performance measurement and insights. These insights will then be fed into other NICE solutions such as coaching and the unique real-time agent guidance to enable organizations to ensure ongoing improvement in agent performance and customer centric processes.
NICE president and CEO Zeevi Bregman said, "The acquisition of Merced constitutes an important and strategic addition to our offering of enterprise-wide customer interaction solutions. Expanding our portfolio with the market leading performance management solutions will enable both NICE and Merced customers to enjoy an enhanced offering with rich functionality. Furthermore, leveraging Merced's products and market leadership in branches and retail stores, together with our customer feedback and real-time analytics, will enable us to extend the benefits we provide at these customer touch points." NICE's share price rose 0.7% on Nasdaq on Friday to $34.20, giving a market cap of $2.19 billion, and opens at NIS 126.60 on the TASE today.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 4, 2011
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