Progress Software To Buy DataDirect

Progress Software plans to acquire privately held DataDirect Technologies for about $88 million in cash, the companies said Friday.

DataDirect, Rockville, Md., makes data access drivers that funnel information to and from popular databases and other applications. Its product line includes ODBC and JDBC drivers that are used by Oracle's database and application server, as well as databases from IBM, Microsoft, Sybase and Progress Software. It also offers managed ADO.Net providers.

"DataDirect's core strength is its focus on reliable, very high-performance, embeddable software components that support true and consistent implementations of industry standards," Joseph Alsop, chairman of Bedford, Mass.-based Progress Software, said in a statement. "DataDirect will lead the adoption of evolving data access standards, including emerging data formats such as XML."

Progress Software makes its own database, which is typically embedded in third-party applications, as well as software tools.

Plans call for DataDirect to operate as a separate business and to continue to offer embeddable data access components for many data sources and operating systems, including Linux, Edward Peters, president and CEO of DataDirect, said in a statement.

Progress Software operates under several banners: The Progress Co., Sonic Software and PeerDirect. The Progress Co. focuses on the OpenEdge application development platform that offers ISVs a full software stack, from data management up to the application framework. Sonic offers EAI tools, and PeerDirect offers data synchronization and application distribution capabilities.