Vignette buys collaboration company

Software maker Vignette announced Monday that it plans to acquire Intraspect Software, a specialist in collaboration tools.

Austin, Texas-based Vignette focuses on Web content management software, which helps companies catalog and reuse the material put on Web sites, and tools for creating and managing corporate portals.

The acquisition of Brisbane, Calif.-based Intraspect follows a recent trend among content management software makers looking to add collaboration features to their products, so corporate customers can more easily share information. Interwoven recently acquired collaboration specialist iManage in a $171 million deal, following content management rival Documentum's acquisition of eRoom last year.

Vignette executives said the merger will give the company a more complete package to address corporate needs for managing and sharing information, all based on the Java programming language. "This is a very requested and sought-after piece of technology," CEO Thomas Hogan said during a conference call with financial analysts.

Vignette will pay $10 million in cash and about 4.2 million shares of stock for privately held Intraspect.

Vignette said it will continue to sell and support Intraspect's software as a standalone product and also integrate it into Vignette's V7 package. "It's up to us to create such an overwhelming value proposition for the integrated suite that customers choose," Hogan said.