Thursday, March 27, 2008

Empirix selling web-testing biz to Oracle

Network testing equipment maker Empirix Inc. has agreed to sell the assets of its web-testing division to California-based enterprise computing giant Oracle Corp.

Under terms of the agreement, Bedford-based Empirix will sell its e-TEST web application testing suite to California-based Oracle, which will in turn incorporate it into its Oracle Enterprise Manager and Oracle Real Application Testing products. The combination is expected to result in a comprehensive suite for testing packaged and custom-built applications, according to Oracle.

Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The business will continue to be part of Empirix until the deal closes. The deal does not include Empirix's other offerings, including its voice over Internet protocol testing business. Empirix employs approximately 380 people. It is unclear how many will be effected by the acquisition.

Past customers of Empirix's e-TEST suite include European automated hotel reservation company Hotelzon International, electronic financial services provider CheckFree Corp. and Yale University.

Empirix spun out of Teradyne Inc. of Boston in 2000. The same year, the company was sold to Matrix Partners and other investors for $28.7 million. Board members include Teradyne co-founder Alex d'Arbeloff, Matrix general partner Timothy Barrows and Matrix co-founder Paul Ferri.