At a recent tech conference, Google's
Privately held and based in Sweden, Marratech develops downloadable conferencing software for Microsoft
Marratech doesn't seem like a crazy company; it's cleverly chasing a big market. According to a study from Frost & Sullivan, Web-based collaboration software is expected to surge from a $932 million market in 2006 to $2.6 billion by 2010. That's exactly the kind of growth and market potential a Google-sized company needs.
Caspio CEO Frank Zamani, whose company develops online business applications for customers like Office Depot, GE, and Borders, shared his thoughts on the deal with me. "This acquisition gives Google a product in its business offerings that companies are actually used to paying money for," he said. "Almost every business needs it."
Web conferencing is also a high-margin business, as industry leader WebEx
Other companies in the space include Microsoft, Adobe
In typical fashion, Google has provided little detail about its intentions for Marratech. Google's blog seems to suggest the deal was made for internal purposes. If that's really the case, well, the Google itself would be really crazy not to make a move for the conferencing marketplace.
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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 CAPS. Borders and Microsoft are Inside Value picks. The Fool has a disclosure policy.