EMC to grab Captiva

EMC has agreed to acquire Captiva Software, whose products let customers turn paper documents into digital data, for $275m.

The Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based company agreed to pay $22.25 per share for Captiva, which amounts to about $275m once Captiva's cash is factored out, EMC said on Thursday. Captiva's stock closed at $18.30 on Thursday but in after-hours trading it increased $3.45, or 19 per cent, to $21.75.

The move continues EMC's transformation from a storage hardware specialist into an information management company. San Diego-based Captiva sells software that can extract information from forms, documents and reports, then export the data to computer systems for processing and storage.

Earlier acquisitions in the same vein in 2003 include Documentum, which lets customers manage large numbers of digital documents; Legato, which sells back-up software; and Astrum Software, whose software governs which individuals or groups may access particular files.

A bit further afield, EMC also acquired VMware, a company that has increasingly focused on controlling how work is juggled across groups of servers.

The latest deal requires approval of regulators and Captiva shareholders.

EMC also plans to take a charge of $15m to $20m for in-process research and development, the company said. Excluding the charge, EMC expects the acquisition to be neutral to profits per share for the first full year.

Stephen Shankland writes for CNET News.com