While Oracle's (NASDAQ:ORCL) $3.3 billion buyout of Hyperion Solutions (NASDAQ:HYSL) is getting lots of buzz, it's not the only interesting deal Larry Ellison's firm has made lately. The business-software giant recently bought start-up Tangosol for an undisclosed amount, in what looks like a savvy way to benefit from the explosion in corporate data.
From its August 2000 founding onward, Tangosol has taken in no venture capital. Instead, the company's web site states that Tangosol "has sustained five years of growing revenues and profitable growth."
The firm has more than 500 customers, but that's not what Oracle cares about. It wants Tangosol's extreme transaction processing (XTP) technology, which works with a myriad of platforms from companies such as BEA (NYSE:BEAS), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and IBM (NYSE:IBM).
XTP is a big help for global companies in data-intensive industries like financial services, travel, and telecommunications. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), for example, trades billions of dollars in complex derivatives. It needs real-time systems like Tangosol's to manage risks while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Over the past few years, Oracle has thrived on a series of megadeals. Yet the company has not been distracted by all these acquisitions; it's still got a finger on the pulse of emerging market opportunities. Tangosol's technologies are still in their early stages, but its market should grow quickly over the next few years. So long as Oracle can integrate its technology and leverage its massive customer base, Tangosol should become a leader in corporate data management.
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Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 2,719 out of 25,386 in Motley Fool CAPS.
