Performix buys US firm
Friday, June 13, 2003
Performix buys US firm
In an all-share deal,
Cliffstone Corporation has been acquired by Performix Technologies, adding 14
new clients to the company's books.
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Under the terms of the deal, Performix will issue 5 percent of its shares
to Cliffstone's shareholders. Cliffstone founder and chief executive Stephen
Beckett will join Performix as vice-president of product strategy.
For
Performix, the deal means that the Massachusetts-based firm will take on a slew
of new customers, including SBC, American Express, Sprint and DirectTV.
Furthermore, Performix will gain control of Cliffstone's main product, Prism,
which is expected to be integrated into Performix's own Emvolve Performance
Manager.
In an interview with the Irish Times, Performix CEO Cathal
McGloin said Prism would provide Performix with better analytical and design
skills than the company can currently offer with its own software. Both
Performix and Cliffstone sell performance optimisation software, which is used
mainly in contact centres to monitor the efficiency of employees and,
importantly, business processes.
Atlanta-based Cliffstone, which raised
USD9 million in venture capital in late 2000 under the name Call Center
Technology Inc, has faced a difficult period recently, which forced it to
downsize its operations. Performix, conversely, has experienced healthy growth
over the last couple of years, with 200 percent revenue growth in 2002, when the
company raked in EUR10 million in sales. McGloin has predicted 25 percent to 50
percent growth this year, and he says the company has no need of any further
venture capital -- after raising over EUR27 million since 1998 -- in order to
achieve profitability.
Another recent testament to Performix's apparent
strength came in April, when Saddletree Research described the firm as
'the de facto industry leader' in its sector. In a report entitled "Performance
Optimization -- The Next Wave of Contact Center Growth," Saddletree said
that Performix Technologies "is the company that most market challengers have in
their competitive sights."
Performix was founded in Dublin in 1998,
although its headquarters have since been moved to Massachusetts.
