Open Text To Buy Vignette For $310 Million

The Associated Press

Canadian corporate software maker Open Text Corp. said Wednesday it has reached a deal to buy Vignette Corp. for $310 million, a deal it hopes will broaden its software offerings for business customers.

Open Text said it will pay stockholders $8 per share plus 0.1447 of Open Text stock for the Austin, Texas-based company, which makes software for managing content online and in corporate networks.

Vignette will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Open Text under the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year.

"Vignette's customers represent some of the world's most powerful online brands and we are excited about the opportunity to expand the relationship with these customers and partners," Open Text Chief Executive John Shackleton said in a statement.

Open Text shares fell 85 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $31.65 in morning trading while shares of Vignette soared $3.32 or, 36.8 percent, to $12.34.