Golden Gate Capital Purchases DataDirect Technologies, the Data Connectivity Division of Merant

Business Wire, Nov 12, 2001

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 2001

Golden Gate Capital, a private equity investment firm based in San Francisco, California announced today the purchase of DataDirect Technologies, previously branded as the DataDirect division of MERANT, PLC (London Stock Exchange: MRN; Nasdaq:MRNT).

DataDirect Technologies is the leading supplier of components for connecting data and applications across complex heterogeneous environments. The company's products enable software applications running on diverse environments such as .NET, Java and Legacy to seamlessly communicate with enterprise databases including Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Sybase and Informix. DataDirect's exclusive partnerships with Sun, Microsoft, IBM and other leading database and application server vendors enable the company to offer the industry's most reliable and highest performing components for data and application connectivity. DataDirect's J2EE, JDBC ODBC and ADO products help customers drive their sales by enabling them to: 1) bring products to market faster; 2) capitalize upon evolving industry standards; 3) focus on core business activities; and 4) extend application capabilities across heterogeneous environments. The Company has over 160 employees and fiscal year 2001 revenues of approximately $46 million.

Edward Peters, DataDirect's President and Chief Executive Officer, states: "As the leader in connectivity components, with more than ten years of experience in defining data connectivity standards, DataDirect Technologies will continue to help customers bring applications to market faster, no matter what standard, database or platform they choose. With our core focus on connectivity, strong vision for the future and support from Golden Gate Capital, we will be able to increase our commitment to delivering the most innovative, reliable and highest performing connectivity components available anywhere."

Sally Hudson, Research Manager for eBusiness Software at IDC, comments: "We've been tracking DataDirect for years, and they have always been a leading vendor in the data connectivity market. This transaction is a catalytic event for the industry as it now enables DataDirect Technologies to completely focus on driving the connectivity market through standards and innovation, which will benefit their customers and the market overall."

"We are extremely excited about this transaction," said David Dominik, a Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital. "The company's products, which are used by over 4.5 million users and hundreds of software vendors worldwide, make it the clear leader in the data connectivity space. Moreover, we believe its strong reputation and deep customer relationships will enable it to extend its leadership in the ODBC market into the rapidly growing Java segment."

About the investors: Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with approximately $700 million of capital under management. Golden Gate Capital's strategy is to partner with exceptional management teams to pursue change-intensive, growth investments in companies that are exploiting the forces of change in technology and the broader economy.