A merger of supply chain software best-of-breeds that fell through last year was resurrected today, as JDA Software announced that it would acquire rival i2 Technologies for $396 million.
The news rings familiar to JDA and i2 customers, who heard JDA announce in August 2008 that it would take over i2 for $346 million. In the months that followed, as the economy sapped both sales and capital, JDA revealed that it was struggling to secure financing for the acquisition, and asked i2’s investors to consider renegotiating the deal at a lower price. Instead, i2’s shareholders held firm to the original agreement, and that resistance helped scuttle the deal.
In the aftermath, i2 seemed caught between dusting itself off for another suitor and forging its own path in the supply chain software market it had helped pioneer. In an interview in February 2009, CEO Jackson L. Wilson, Jr. told Managing Automation that i2’s quarterly results and cash position made it an attractive takeover candidate, even as he outlined plans to place greater emphasis on i2’s service offerings, restructure its R&D efforts, and transition to more subscription-based sales.
If JDA succeeds this time, it will be paying, in part, to buy back the $20 million termination fee it paid to i2 in the wake of its failed buyout attempt. In today’s statement, JDA said the combined company would comprise 6,000 customers, represent $617 million in annual revenue, and extend JDA’s reach into the discrete manufacturing and transportation markets.