Siebel Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEBL), a leading provider of business applications software, today announced that it has closed its acquisition of edocs, Inc., a leading provider of eBilling and customer self-service software solutions.
Under the terms of the deal, Siebel Systems will initially pay $115 million in cash to edocs shareholders. Additional payments, based on achieving revenue and other contractual milestones, may be paid in 2006. Excluding the impact of a one-time merger-related charge, the company expects the transaction will reduce Q1 2005 earnings by approximately $0.01 per share. Additionally, the company currently expects a one-time charge in Q1 2005 estimated at $8-10 million, although the company is still completing its asset allocation analysis and this estimate is subject to change. Siebel Systems expects the transaction to be approximately neutral to earnings for the remainder of 2005.
"The complementary strengths of Siebel Systems and edocs will enable our customers to capitalize on the tremendous value of customer self-service applications," said J. Michael Lawrie, CEO, Siebel Systems. "These applications have become a vital component of many companies' channel strategies because they guide customers to the lowest cost, most appropriate channel for each interaction, thereby delivering a superior customer experience at a dramatically reduced cost. The growth of self-service applications is a clear front-office trend, and with the closing of this acquisition we are capitalizing on this growth opportunity."
Siebel Systems plans to integrate its industry-leading CRM solutions with edocs' customer service and eBilling applications to deliver one of the industry's most comprehensive self-service solutions enabling companies to drive higher levels of customer satisfaction and adoption. The acquisition also extends Siebel's current eService solution to include market-leading eBilling functionality, helping companies achieve immediate cost savings while offering a richer self-service experience to their customers.
edocs' solutions enable companies to improve customer service and increase customer loyalty while reducing the overall cost of serving their customers. Companies use edocs' solutions to move the most common customer inquiries and transactions -- such as billing, account management, and service order issues -- from expensive channels such as paper correspondence and contact center calls, to lower-cost self-service and assisted care channels such as the Web, email, and chat.
About Siebel Systems
Siebel Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of business applications software, enabling corporations to sell to, market to, and serve customers across multiple channels and lines of business. With more than 4,000 customer deployments worldwide, Siebel Systems provides organizations with a proven set of industry-specific best practices, CRM applications, market-leading analytics products, and business processes, empowering them to consistently deliver superior customer experiences and establish more profitable customer relationships. Siebel Systems' sales and service facilities are located in more than 30 countries. For more information about Siebel Systems, Inc., please visit www.siebel.com.
For more information on Siebel Systems solutions and services, please visit our Web site: CRM -- http://www.siebel.com/crm; OnDemand Solutions -- http://www.crmondemand.com; Industry CRM -- http://www.siebel.com/industry-crm; Call Center & Service -- http://www.siebel.com/call-center; Sales Force Automation -- http://www.siebel.com/sales-force-automation; Marketing Automation -- http://www.siebel.com/marketing-automation; Business Intelligence -- http://www.siebel.com/business-intelligence; Integration Solutions -- http://www.siebel.com/integration-solutions; CRM Services -- http://www.siebel.com/crm-services.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risk or uncertainties. The success of the agreements and products described above, including benefits to customers, and the future operating results of Siebel Systems may differ from the results discussed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements due to factors that include, but are not limited to, risks associated with customer relations, such as the availability of Siebel Systems' products and services, customer implementation of products and services, relationships with customers, third-party vendors and systems integrators, concentration of revenues in a relatively small number of customers, existence of errors or defects in products, ability to successfully manage growth, significant current and expected additional competition and the need to continue to expand product distribution and services offerings. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial results of Siebel Systems are included in Siebel Systems' Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Siebel Systems assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release, except to the extent required by law.