Business Objects is stepping up its efforts in the area of corporate performance management software with an acquisition and the integration of some existing applications with its business intelligence suite.

The company said on Tuesday its U.K. subsidiary has agreed to buy Armstrong Laing, which makes profitability management software, for about 30 million pounds (US$56 million) in cash. It expects to close the deal by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Performance-management software helps big companies with sales, payroll, staffing and capital expenditure planning.

Business Objects said its license revenue from such products jumped 70 percent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2005.

Armstrong, better known as ALG Software, has about 400 customers including American Express, British Airways and Heineken, and had total revenue last year of about $19 million. Its customers use its software for profitability management, activity-based costing and business performance measurement.

Business Objects has also completed a two-year project to integrate its performance-management applications with its data analytics suite, BusinessObjects XI. Many of the applications were acquired in 2005 when it bought SRC Software for $100 million.

The integration means customers can take data from the planning, budgeting and other performance-management applications and combine it more easily with the reporting and analysis tools in BusinessObjects XI. The applications are aimed mostly at financial companies and finance managers at big businesses.

Business Objects has dual headquarters in Paris and San Jose, Calif. ALG Software is a privately held company with headquarters in Atlanta and offices in Cheshire, the United Kingdom.

-James Niccolai, IDG News Service (Paris Bureau)

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