Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

There could be a top-up payable in Autonomy shares based on certain performance-related targets. Autonomy expects to chop certain aspects of the etalk business.

The deal strengthens Autonomy’s position in the contact/call centre marketplace, where organisations gather critical information through customer interactions and increasingly need to leverage that information throughout their business operations.

The Cambridge company’s CEO, Dr Mike Lynch, said Autonomy’s IDOL 5.0 platform had already been established as the key infrastructure for the automated management of all forms of unstructured information, whether it be text, voice or video.

The integration of Autonomy’s technology with etalk’s product suite would enable the new business to better leverage its lead position in the contact centre market, he said.

Dr Lynch added: “etalk’s customer base of over 1,500 contact centres and 35 Fortune 100 companies will gain access to the world’s leading technology, offering them a competitive edge over any other solution, based on Autonomy’s unique ability to understand the content of the call.”

etalk shareholders will own around 9.1 per cent of the enlarged Autonomy group. Autonomy’s cash balance is expected to be approximately $75m.

Both boards and the shareholders of etalk, have approved the deal and completion is expected in the third quarter of 2005.

For the year ended December 31, 2004, etalk reported revenues of $37.1m and profits after tax of $3.3m.

Autonomy posted record first quarter revenues to the end of March – up 13 per cent to $18.5m (£9.7m) and pre-tax profit ahead 113 per cent year-on-year to $4.4m (£2.3m).