More CRM Consolidation: Pivotal To Be Acquired, Merged With Talisma

Oak Investment Partners will buy all 27 million outstanding shares of Pivotal for $1.78 per share and possibly an additional 3 cents depending on performance before Oct. 16, according to a statement. A Pivotal spokesman said the deal is worth about $48 million.

In addition, Pivotal will merge with Talisma, another CRM player and an Oak Investment Partners company.

The buyout is expected to close in November or December.

The deal may be a sign of continued consolidation in CRM, where even market leader Siebel Systems is under intense pressure as other companies ranging from SAP and PeopleSoft to Microsoft enter the CRM fray.

Now, even major players are seeking to team up. Last week Siebel made it official that it will team with IBM on a hosted CRM offering.

Talisma is based in Seattle, while Pivotal is in Vancouver, British Columbia.