CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2003-- SSA Global Technologies, Inc.(TM) (SSA GT(TM)), a leading global provider of extended enterprise solutions and services, today announced that Baan has become a wholly owned subsidiary of SSA Global Technologies, Inc. Effective immediately, Baan infrastructure functions, including financial, legal, IT and human resources, will fully integrate within SSA GT, while the sales, marketing, and development functions will retain some autonomy and shall work together to achieve efficiencies.
SSA GT now has more than 16,500 customers and nearly USD $610M in combined revenues, of which $160M represents license fees for the combined products.
"This acquisition represents a significant milestone in our ongoing growth strategy," said Mike Greenough, president, chairman and CEO of SSA GT. "Baan gives SSA GT a deeper global presence as well as the most balanced geographical reach in the industry. Both SSA GT and Baan customers will benefit from enhanced extension solutions in areas such as logistics, supply chain management, customer relationship management, corporate performance management and enterprise integration."
Greenough continued, "SSA GT has the financial and management acumen required to restructure Baan, thus returning the company to profitability. By creating a highly competitive organization within a market that is seeing rapid consolidation, we will extend our customers' IT investments, and use the combined talents of both organizations to produce new and exciting products."
Greenough has appointed Graeme Cooksley as president of the Baan subsidiary. Cooksley retains his current responsibilities as executive vice president of SSA GT and will lead the Baan management team to ensure that current Baan customers benefit from the additional resources now available to Baan and to orchestrate a successful execution of the Baan growth strategy. During his time at SSA GT, Cooksley has been an integral part of the management team helping to reengineer SSA GT into a leading provider of extended enterprise solutions to the manufacturing, services and public industry sectors.
"My goal is to focus Baan on meeting customer and market demand while achieving at least the same level of growth that we have experienced during my time at SSA GT," said Cooksley. "I accept this appointment with great enthusiasm."
