Citing slowing economic conditions and delays in SEC regulatory approval, FreeMarkets Inc. and Adexa Inc. have mutually agreed to end their proposed merger without payment of any termination fees.
The agreement, announced in the first quarter, had been valued at $340 million. Analysts had criticized the deal for being too low in price and had also questioned claimed synergies between the two companies.
The merger would have extended FreeMarkets' e-sourcing and e-procurement applications with Adexa's supply chain collaboration and optimization solutions. The deal was also expected to provide a much-needed boost to Adexa.
Instead of merging, the companies struck a partnership to resell each other's products, with FreeMarkets also taking an approximate 3% stake in Adexa, or $6 million.