San Mateo, CA (USA), May 2011 - SuccessFactors has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Plateau, the leading learning-management system (LMS), a Next Generation Portal technology, and CaaS - content as a service. This acquisition forms a symbiotic combination with SuccessFactors-˜ acquisition of social video mobile learning provider Jambok.
Customers will have the ability to further increase employee development and business execution by implementing a comprehensive social and traditional learning strategy that includes evangelizing internal experts, utilizing easy-to-use video creation and sharing tools, as well as managing, developing, and deploying online, instructor-led and self-study training.
"Plateau will accelerate SuccessFactors-˜ strategy markedly. Like SuccessFactors, Plateau has had success with the biggest and most complex customers, including Plateau-˜s long-time customer General Electric. This makes Plateau the best choice for SuccessFactors, and we believe an excellent choice for customers and prospects", Lars Dalgaard, founder and CEO of Success Factors explained.
"SuccessFactors approaches integrated talent management in an innovative way that really impacts our business", says Carol Anderson, Chief Learning Officer at Marriott International, Inc. "With the additions of Plateau-˜s LMS and Jambok-˜s social learning technology, SuccessFactors is clearly changing the market and offering a unique advantage to its customers."
Plateau has been recognized for its traction in SaaS, and viewed technologically, SuccessFactors and Plateau are more alike than any other platforms. We think the fact that Plateau, like SuccessFactors, is built using Enterprise Java, J2EE, also reduces the execution risk and thus helped make the case for this acquisition a lot more compelling.
"Since J2EE is delivered with a focus on interoperability, portability, and true enterprise-class scalability, both teams anticipate a cleaner and smoother code assimilation. SuccessFactors has set achievable-yet-aggressive timeframes to fully integrate Plateau-˜s LMS solution", says Aaron Au, co-founder and CTO of SuccessFactors.
This acquisition extends the company-˜s leadership by enhancing its current career and development-planning offerings, integrating the entire employee-lifecycle experience, as well as positioning the company as the leader in the HCM cloud-based SaaS market. Based on initial estimates, the combined companies will have more than fifteen million users.
Plateau brings more than 350 customers to SuccessFactors. After the deal closes, Plateau-˜s SaaS based LMS will be integrated directly into SuccessFactors-˜ BizX suite, providing deeper opportunities for companies to bridge the execution gap by more effectively on-boarding, training, certifying, and linking learning to overall performance, goals, and employee engagement.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, SuccessFactors will pay $145 million in cash plus $145 million in stock, approximately $15 million is for employee stock options and RSUs, for Plateau. The acquisition is subject to various closing conditions, including filings under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and the issuance of a permit from the California Department of Corporations. It is currently expected to close during summer 2011.
