US software giant buys Waterford firm for €63.5m

A Waterford-based mobile software company was yesterday bought by US open source software giant Red Hat in a deal worth 63.5m.

FeedHenry which specialises in enterprise-focused mobile app platforms has agreed a deal with the US firm which it expects to close next year.

The acquisition will expand Red Hats portfolio of app development, integration and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions, according to the company.

The mobile application platform is one of the fastest growing segments of the enterprise software market. As mobile devices have penetrated into every aspect of enterprise computing, enterprise software customers are looking for easier and more efficient ways for their developers to build mobile applications that extend and enhance traditional enterprise applications. FeedHenry will help us enable customers to take advantage of the capabilities of mobile with the security, scalability, and reliability of Red Hat enterprise software, said Red Hat application platform business senior vice president, Craig Muzilla.

FeedHenry, which employs 60 people across the UK, Ireland and the US, is a leading developer of cloud mobile application platforms for large companies.

The company which was spun out of Waterford Institute of Technologys Telecommunications Software and Systems Group also allows developers to create native apps as well as hybrid or web apps.

Commenting on the announcement, FeedHenry chief executive, Cathal McGloin said the move would enable the company to reach a wider audience.

We are excited to become part of Red Hat, the leader in open source enterprise solutions, and see this as confirmation of the combined power of mobile and cloud... we now have an opportunity to bring our leading mobile application platform to a wider audience of global customers and partners, to help them optimise for the mobile-first world, said Mr McGloin.

FeedHenry made an after-tax loss of 1.49m in 2012.

Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Follow this link:
US software giant buys Waterford firm for €63.5m