Business Objects Announces Acquisition of OLAP@Work; Acquisition Enhances Business Objects Analysis Functionality; Strengthens Integration With OLAP Data Sources

Business Wire, April 4, 2000

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif., and OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(PARIS BOURSE: code SICOVAM 12074) the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, today announced the acquisition of OLAP@Work, a privately held software company in Ottawa, for a cash transaction of approximately US $15 million.

The acquisition will be accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. OLAP@Work develops and markets high-end online analytical processing (OLAP) reporting tools.

The OLAP@Work office in Ottawa will become the new Business Objects Canadian headquarters. Business Objects will establish a new development center in Ottawa, and integrate several members of the engineering staff in its Paris-based research and development center.

With this acquisition, Business Objects will continue to market and support existing OLAP@Work products. The Company will also integrate the OLAP@Work products and technology into current and future Business Objects e-business intelligence products.

"The acquisition of OLAP@Work provides Business Objects with excellent technology and expertise to further develop our leading e-business intelligence solutions and provide enhanced access to multidimensional data sources," said Bernard Liautaud, president and CEO of Business Objects. "In addition, the acquisition will enable us to further enhance our solutions on top of Microsoft and SAP products, a very important component to expanding our relationship with those key partners.

"With the market response to OLAP@Work products, we have seen strong demand and enthusiasm for advanced analysis and reporting on all the leading OLAP data sources," said Ward Yaternick, co-founder and chief technology officer of OLAP@Work. "This acquisition will leverage the strong sales and marketing presence of Business Objects to further establish the OLAP@Work technology in the marketplace."

Statements in this press release regarding Business Objects that are not statements of historical fact may include forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements concerning the introduction of new products and applications that combine the technologies of the two companies, as well as employee integration issues. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ include: the ability of the combined company to integrate the disparate products and technologies of the two companies. For a further discussion of the other risk factors facing Business Objects business, please refer to the documents filed by Business Objects S.A. with the SEC from time to time.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. The company coined the term e-business intelligence in 1998 to describe the intersection of business intelligence and the internet. Using e-business intelligence, organizations can access, analyze, and share information in intranet, extranet, and e-business environments. In intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions, and are used in environments ranging from workgroups of 20 users to enterprise deployments exceeding 20,000. In the extranet environment, the company is pioneering the use of e-BI in applications that allow organizations to build stronger relationships by linking customers, partners, and suppliers via the Internet. In addition, the company's products can improve the performance of an e-business by providing reporting and analysis against the ever-expanding amount of transaction and profile data that is collected each day throughout the World Wide Web.

Founded in 1990, Business Objects pioneered the modern business intelligence industry by inventing and patenting a "semantic layer" that insulates users from the technical complexity of database systems. Today, the company has sold more than 1,683,000 licenses to 9,700 organizations in more than 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ, PARIS BOURSE: code SICOVAM 12074, and included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408/953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects is a trademark and WebIntelligence is a registered trademark of Business Objects SA. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.