Irish software firm Cape Clear has been acquired by US firm Workday in a predominantly share-based deal, the details of which have not been disclosed.
Cape Clear was established in 1999 by Annrai O'Toole, a co-founder of Iona Technologies, and other senior Iona executives. According to its most recently published accounts which cover the period to the end of 2006, it lost $7.3 million (€4.9 million) that year and had retained losses of $36.9 million.
Workday was founded in March 2005 by former Peoplesoft founder and chief executive, Dave Duffield and one of his lieutenants at that company Aneel Bhusri. Mr Duffield and Mr Bhusri were instrumental in attempting to fight off Oracle's hostile $10.3 billion takeover of Peoplesoft in 2004.
Workday provides human resources and financial software to large firms as a service over the web so they do not have to install any software themselves.
Mr Bhusri said Cape Clear will become its integration division which will be headed up by Mr O'Toole. Cape Clear provides software called web services which allow applications from different suppliers to communicate. Its technology is highly rated by industry analysts and its customers include Channel 4, Eirgrid, Vodafone and JP Morgan.
Cape Clear raised almost $45 million in funding from ACT Venture Capital in Dublin and international investors Accel, Greylock and InterWest Partners.
The takeover was not wholly unexpected as Mr Bhusri is chairman of Cape Clear and Workday has already been using the Dublin's firm's technology.
Cape Clear had slimmed down significantly in recent years. As recently as 2004 it employed more than 70 people. Mr Bhusri said the addition of Cape Clear would bring employment up from 180 to "just over 200".
