Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Toronto-based ISOPIA Inc.
ISOPIA is the developer of an industry-leading Integrated Learning Management System (ILMS) that enables the delivery of online training and end-to-end management of training products entirely through the World Wide Web.
Sun said it expects that this acquisition will further enhance its position in the IT and broader corporate education world by enabling it to
consistently provide enterprises worldwide with complete learning services.
Bill Richardson, vice-president and general manager of Sun Educational Services, said the acquisition of ISOPIA means that Sun will be able to combine ISOPIA’s ILMS (integrated learning management system) with Sun’s education consulting, courseware, eLearning program
and professional certifications to fulfill Sun’s vision of using the Web to deliver services.
Omid Hodaie, CEO of ISOPIA, said the integration of ILMS into Sun Educational Services will be easier as Sun technologies have been an integral part of the company’s model from the beginning. ILMS system was built on Sun’s latest generation Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, Hodaie pointed out.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sun will acquire ISOPIA in a stock and cash transaction.
The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase, and
in-process research and development charges are expected to be immaterial, Sun said. The closing of the acquisition is subject to governmental and ISOPIA stockholder approvals, as well as customary closing conditions.
Following completion of the acquisition, Sun said it plans to make ISOPIA a part of Sun Educational Services, reporting to Richardson.
Sun Educational Services can be reached at http://www.sun.com/service/suned. ISOPIA can be reached at http://www.isopia.com.