BEA Systems, a maker of software for large corporate networks, said Monday it would buy network-server developer WebLogic in a stock transaction worth about US$190 million.
BEA Systems (BEAS), headquartered in San Jose, California, will trade 7.7 million shares of its stock for San Francisco-based WebLogic, a private company with 95 employees. BEA Systems will also issue 1.8 million shares to WebLogic employees to cover the company's stock-option plan.
BEA Systems makes middleware, computer programs that shuttle information between databases and individuals' desktops on corporate networks. The company's customers include brokerage houses and banks that process hundreds of thousands of transactions every day. WebLogic makes Web application servers, a new kind of middleware that connects individual Internet-based applications to the underlying servers on the corporate Internet.
The combined company will be able to provide a full suite of applications to companies that want to process business transactions through the Web.
Other companies have also recently purchased application server developers to help bolster their corporate software offerings. In July, Sun Microsystems bought NetDynamics, while Netscape acquired Kiva Software last year.
BEA System's stock dropped $1.44, almost 6 percent, to $23.56 by late morning trading.
