Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Oracle now owns Waltham software firm mValent

By Galen Moore

Database and software giant Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) has purchased mValent Inc. in a transaction that is being held tightly under wraps by the two companies.

Waltham-based mValent makes application configuration management software. The acquisition will add capabilities to the Oracle Enterprise Manager offering, the California-based company said in a press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mvalent has received over $20 million in at least three rounds of venture capital investment. Investors in mValent include Polaris Venture Partners and Charles River Ventures, both of Waltham, and Boston-based Flybridge Venture Capital.

Company founder and former CEO Swapnil Shah is now an entrepreneur-in-residence at Charles River Ventures.

David Barrett represents Polaris on the mValent board; Chip Hazard has Flybridge’s seat. A Flybridge spokeswoman said terms of the sale prohibited Hazard from commenting on the deal. Neither Barrett nor Shaw immediately responded to requests for comment.

Customers of mValent include Pearson Education, State Street Corp. and Macy’s. An mValent spokesman declined to answer questions about how many employees the company currently has, or the exact amount of venture capital dollars invested thus far.