Document Sciences Aims to Acquire Objectiva

As part of a deal calculated to diversify its revenue streams and expand its breadth of solutions, as well as its presence in the Chinese marketplace, Document Sciences Corp. (Carlsbad, Calif.) has signed a letter of intent to acquire the remainder of global software development services company Objectiva Software Solutions (Carlsbad, Calif.), of which Document Sciences is currently a 21 percent stakeholder.

Document Science's intention to acquire Objectiva is subject to a due diligence period and follows a three-year relationship with the company.

As part of their partnership, Objectiva's services were leveraged in order to create Document Sciences' Xpression -- a component-based architecture built on J2EE and XML standards, with Web services support.

Through its contribution of "additional resources for ongoing software development, [Objectiva] will help Document Sciences to diversify its revenue streams and broaden the scope of offerings in terms of service to customers while we rapidly bring products to market," reports Scott Samuels, director of corporate marketing, Document Sciences. "Above all, Objectiva provides an important channel into the Chinese marketplace because it has a strong presence in Beijing." The technology services provider is currently serving as Document Sciences' reseller channel in that region where it markets the Xpression product.

If the acquisition goes through, Document Sciences will also leverage the expertise of Objectiva's upper management. Contingent on the deal's approval, Douglas Winter, currently CEO and president of Objectiva, will assume the newly-created position of Document Sciences' general manager of technical operations. Objectiva China's COO and president, Tao Ye, will become general manager of Document Sciences' Asian operations, and Nasser Barghouti, PhD, Objectiva's chief technology officer, will assume that role at Document Sciences.