Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS) announced its planned acquisition of privately-held MarkLogic, a NoSQL database vendor, for $355 million in cash. From a technology standpoint, MarkLogic’s semantic metadata management and AI capabilities can complement Progress’s more extensive portfolio, precisely its SQL database solutions OpenEdge and Datadirect.
While the technology is old, on-premise, and operates in a competitive landscape, Progress has a proven track record of retaining customers and driving incremental growth.
From a financial standpoint, MarkLogic has positive margins and free cash flow, and Progress is confident it can push its operating margins to over 40% within 12 months of closing (scheduled for February 2023).
Analysts at Oppenheimer said they are positive on the transaction and view it as another positive step toward the company’s efforts to deliver on its $1 billion revenue target by fiscal 2025.