SBI Buying Emerald Solutions Assets

The company announced this week that it is acquiring assets of struggling integration firm Emerald Solutions, including more than 200 of its employees and client relationships including American Airlines, AT&T and Verizon.

The addition of Emerald Solutions' assets will complement SBI's core competencies as well as its focus on vertical markets, says president and CEO Ned Stringham. Among Emerald Solutions areas of expertise are building CRM solutions around products from vendors including Art Technology Group, BEA Systems, Blue Martini, Siebel and WebMethods. In purchasing Emerald Solutions' client relationships, SBI hopes to expand expertise to two additional verticals, transportation and telecommunications. The company's existing verticals include manufacturing, retail and financial services.

In addition, Emerald Solutions voluntarily filed a petition with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oregon for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code, allowing the company to continue to serve its clients until the acquisition is approved.

SBI expects the acquisition to become accretive to earnings in its first quarter of operations inside SBI.

Earlier this year, SBI acquired assets and client relationships that formerly belonged to MarchFirst. The company says that move is expected to bring in between $30 million and $50 million in additional revenue to the company's top line this year.

Be sure to read our Q&As with SBI CEO Ned Stringham and Emerald Solutions CEO Martin Wright for more comments on the acquistion.