Symphony buys out Hummingbird as Content Management market shrinks

Enterprise content management (ECM) heavyweight Hummingbird has switched from being a publicly listed company to private ownership. Hummingbird believes the status change will enable it to be more creative with its strategy and software.

Symphony Technology Group has acquired outstanding shares in Hummingbird in an all-cash transaction that values the company at $465m (£248m). Symphony specialises in turning around under achieving companies.

Despite Symphony’s reputation,Tony Heywood, Senior vp EMEA, denied that Hummingbird was in trouble. “The deal is about being in the best position to take advantage of opportunities in the market”. He did say that ECM vendors were facing a period of consolidation.

Heywood said that by being a private company will allow Hummingbird to seek out new technology and vertical markets. David Macey, vp international operations at rival Stellent, agreed with the flexibility private ownership brings, but pointed out that ECM vendors sell on compliance and it helps to be publicly listed and transparent yourselves (click here for news on Stellent compliance technology ).

“The purchasers of ECM systems require broader and more comprehensive applications, which requires the supplier to have a breadth of products, skills and technology,” Heywood said, citing acquisitions including UK records management specialists Valid Information Systems (see details of Hummingbird RM technology here) and content management providers RedDot.

“The ECM market is consolidating because vendors are required to aggregate more and more elements of the ECM offering,” Heywood said (click here for more ECM consolidation news ). “There are a number of companies actively pursuing suitors.”

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