Oracle Buys Grid Computing Developer Tangosol

The headline-grabbing lawsuit Oracle filed yesterday against archrival SAP hasn't distracted the acquisitive company from its shopping expeditions. Oracle said Friday it has reached a deal to acquire Tangosol, a Somerville, Mass., developer of grid computing software technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Privately held Tangosol launched its first product in early 2001. Its flagship Tangosol Coherence software dynamically partitions and distributes data in memory across a data grid, reducing the costs and resource demands of managing distributed data. Oracle plans to add Tangosol's technology to its Fusion middleware portfolio, boosting its offerings for heavy-duty transaction processing needs.

Oracle expects the acquisition to close next month.

Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, Calif., has bought more than two dozen companies in the past two years, mixing splashy deals like its PeopleSoft, Siebel and Hyperion buys with smaller purchases to fill specific gaps in its technology stack.

Its Fusion middleware line has been a frequent beneficiary of Oracle's shopping. Other middleware acquisitions include buyouts of real-time data management software maker TimesTen, predictive analytics maker Sigma Dynamics and communications infrastructure developer HotSip.