Business Objects Announces Acquisition of OLAP@Work

Business Objects, a leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, announced the acquisition of OLAP@Work, a privately held software company in Ottawa, for a cash transaction of approximately US $15 million.

The acquisition will be accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. OLAP@Work develops and markets high-end online analytical processing (OLAP) reporting tools.

The OLAP@Work office in Ottawa will become the new Business Objects Canadian headquarters. Business Objects will establish a new development center in Ottawa, and integrate several members of the engineering staff in its Paris-based research and development center.

With this acquisition, Business Objects will continue to market and support existing OLAP@Work products. The Company will also integrate the OLAP@Work products and technology into current and future Business Objects e-business intelligence products.

"The acquisition of OLAP@Work provides Business Objects with excellent technology and expertise to further develop our leading e-business intelligence solutions and provide enhanced access to multidimensional data sources," said Bernard Liautaud, president and CEO of Business Objects. "In addition, the acquisition will enable us to further enhance our solutions on top of Microsoft and SAP products, a very important component to expanding our relationship with those key partners.

"With the market response to OLAP@Work products, we have seen strong demand and enthusiasm for advanced analysis and reporting on all the leading OLAP data sources," said Ward Yaternick, co-founder and chief technology officer of OLAP@Work. "This acquisition will leverage the strong sales and marketing presence of Business Objects to further establish the OLAP@Work technology in the marketplace."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is a leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. The company coined the term e-business intelligence in 1998 to describe the intersection of business intelligence and the internet. Using e-business intelligence, organizations can access, analyze, and share information in intranet, extranet, and e-business environments. In intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions, and are used in environments ranging from workgroups of 20 users to enterprise deployments exceeding 20,000. In the extranet environment, the company is pioneering the use of e-BI in applications that allow organizations to build stronger relationships by linking customers, partners, and suppliers via the Internet. In addition, the company's products can improve the performance of an e-business by providing reporting and analysis against the ever-expanding amount of transaction and profile data that is collected each day throughout the World Wide Web.

Founded in 1990, Business Objects pioneered the modern business intelligence industry by inventing and patenting a "semantic layer" that insulates users from the technical complexity of database systems. Today, the company has sold more than 1,683,000 licenses to 9,700 organizations in more than 80 countries. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Contact Business Objects Tracy Eiler, 408-953-6031 teiler@businessobjects.com or OLAP@Work Robert Lendvai, 613-225-5832 robert.lendvai@olapatwork.com.