Business Objects, a provider of business intelligence solutions,has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately heldCartesis S.A., a specialist in enterprise performance managementsoftware with more than 1,300 customers worldwide. Cartesisprovides financial reporting, consolidations, and planningcapabilities as well as a new governance, risk, and complianceportfolio.

The acquisition will add functionality to the Business Objectsperformance management platform--from analytics to profitability toconsolidations. Under terms of the agreement, Business Objects willpay a total transaction value of $300 million in cash. Theacquisition is expected to close within 90 days, subject toregulatory approval, Cartesis shareholder approval, and othercustomary closing conditions.

"This acquisition marks an important step in our strategy ofsystematically building out the industry's best performancemanagement platform," says John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects."The acquisition of Cartesis will allow us to extend ourcomprehensive solutions for the office of the CFO by providingcritical cross-application and cross-database line of sight tofinancial and management reporting, including consolidatedstatements and budgeting."