On Friday last week, the Independent Alterian Directors announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of the acquisition of Alterian plc by SDL plc. The acquisition was unanimously recommended by Alterian’s Independent Directors and could be completed, subject to shareholder approval, by the end of January 2012. The completion date is subject to variation, and it should be noted that while SDL has made a formal offer it has not yet acquired Alterian. I am writing to explain the reason for this decision and what it means to you in practice as our customer/partner.
First, I would like to emphasise that we firmly believe that the acquisition by SDL is in the best interests of all of the Group’s stakeholders – customers, business partners, employees and shareholders alike! There is a clear and compelling strategic fit between the two businesses from which you should benefit once the acquisition is complete.
SDL is a leading provider of Global Information Management solutions. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, is a FTSE 250 company and has a market capitalisation of more than £500m. It has significant resources and scale to support Alterian’s market leading products and technology platforms. SDL also has over 1,500 enterprise customers and a network of over 60 offices in 35 countries, providing strong global reach and capability.
SDL provides a suite of solutions including Web Content Management, eCommerce, Structured Content and Language Technologies, used by the majority of the world’s top 50 Global brands. There is an excellent strategic fit in combining the marketing analytics, campaign management and social media capabilities from the Alterian product suite with SDL’s product portfolio. Alterian’s integrated marketing platform is a logical enhancement to SDL’s current strategy of engaging customers through multiple channels from the very beginning of the customer journey.
SDL is strongly committed to further grow and develop the Alterian business within the SDL Group and to further develop existing customer relationships, providing excellent service, customer experience and innovation to Alterian’s customers. SDL also wants to provide immediate clarity that it views existing partner channel relationships as highly strategic to the growth of the business and is wholly committed to build and develop these relationships with the strong Alterian network of channel partners.
The Alterian Independent Directors firmly believe that the acquisition is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders and that the company can move forward positively with a parent who places strong value on growth and strategic development of the business.
Please do not hesitate to contact Alterian through your existing relationship point should you have further questions or by all means contact me personally if you have any questions that are not resolved on the following email address Heath.Davies@Alterian.com. I will be updating you progressively as the acquisition proceeds towards completion at the end of January. In the meantime, I would like to thank you for your continued business which we value and never take for granted.
Best regards
Heath Davies
CEO Alterian