Lante Next On SBI’s Acquisition List

Just days after announcing its intention to scoop up the assets of struggling Web services firm Scient, the Salt Lake City-based solution provider says it will also buy the assets of client server integrator-turned-e-business hotshot Lante.

The company, recently recognized as a leading VARBusiness 500 solution provider, will buy all outstanding shares of Lante stock for $1.10 per share. The transaction, which has already been approved by the boards of directors at both companies, is expected to close in the third quarter.

SBI executives say that aside from expanding the company's geographic footprint, the acquisition of Lante's assets will provide a number of new capabilities to its solution sets, including things like extended enterprise framework development, business-to-business integration solutions, enterprise application development, portals, content management, business analytics, and technology foundation development and deployment.

Lante, which was founded in the late 1980s as a traditional systems integrator, made headlines a decade later for its efforts to reinvent itself as a successful e-business integrator that focused on emerging "e-marketplace" solutions. But the dot-com implosion, as well as an overall slowdown in IT spending that started in late 2000, significantly hurt the company's revenue over the last two years, forcing it to repeatedly scale back operations and restructure its business.

The move to buy Lante was announced only days after SBI revealed plans to acquire the assets of Scient, another former Web services star that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Scient assets to be purchased by SBI include employees from the United States and the United Kingdom, client relationships and some vertical practices.

SBI, which recently had its CEO Ned Stringham recognized as a VARBusiness 500 Executive of the Year because of its aggressive growth strategy over the last year, has already acquired the assets of several other Web services firms, including MarchFirst and Emerald Solutions.

"Our long-term strategy is to build a business composed of world-class professionals that are deeply committed to serving clients and delivering outstanding results," said Stringham in a statement. "Lante's people and customer relationships complement SBI's business and create an organization that will be a leader in the services industry. With this acquisition, SBI & Company is leading a new wave of healthy consolidation."