(TECH) Oracle Buys Israeli Start Up Convergin

"Oracle recently announced that it was buying Israeli start up Convergin. The price was not disclosed, but industry sources estimate that it was around $80 to 90 million. This is considered quite impressive for a company in which just $13 million has been invested.

Convergin was founded in 2000 by Dr. Ayal Itzkovitz, who is the company's president and CEO. It provides service broker and service capability interaction management telecommunications network solutions.

The link with Oracle began about a year ago with an OEM agreement, but at a certain stage Oracle decided to move ahead and offer to buy the company.

Oracle sources say Convergin has been profitable since 2002 and had sales of $15 million in 2009, plus a cash surplus. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year.

According to Globes, Israel's leading financial website, this is Oracle's third acquisition in Israel, and its most expensive. In September 2009, it bought HyperRoll, which develops what are known as financial reporting acceleration solutions; and in 2006 Oracle bought planning solutions company Demantra for a reported $41 million and set up a local development center." (source)