Capital IT firm Hansen is sold

Software giant Infor Global Solutions will acquire longtime Sacramento software company Hansen Information Technologies for $100 million, the latest in a string of local technology companies being acquired by bigger firms.

When it closes next month, the deal will mark the end of Hansen family ownership of HIT, which develops programs to help governments perform chores such as issuing building permits, managing sewer, water and transportation systems and tracking property taxes.

With the acquisition, Infor is gaining a foothold in the fast-growing market for local government technology. City and county spending on information technology is forecast to expand to $57.7 billion in 2010 from $48.8 billion this year, according to Rishi Sood, an analyst and vice president with Gartner Inc. in San Jose. He called HIT "a nice addition for a company that wants to expand its local government revenue."

HIT customers include the California Department of Transportation as well as Las Vegas, San Antonio, New York City and Los Angeles. HIT's revenue last year was $48.5 million.

Last year Chief Executive Chuck Hansen sold a majority stake in the company to San Francisco-based equity fund Golden Gate Capital for more than $50 million. The current deal calls for Infor, also owned by Golden Gate, to pay $100 million for HIT, including a 42 percent stake still held by Hansen.

"Infor has ... sold into the government space, but not enough to have a big footprint," Hansen said. "This gives Infor a tier one footprint into government."

Executives of Atlanta-based Infor could not be reached for comment. In a prepared statement, Infor Chief Executive Jim Schaper said the deal would allow his company to "provide a complete offering of government-specific solutions from a vendor that has the size and scale to be a long-term strategic partner."

Hansen said he expects little impact on the firm's 350 employees worldwide, including 180 who work in Rancho Cordova. There might be some consolidation in administrative duties, but he said those employees would likely find jobs elsewhere in the company.

HIT, founded in 1983 by Hansen's father, Bob, joins a company already a leader in enterprise resource planning software. The segment includes programs to control manufacturing, inventory, distribution, scheduling, billing and other chores. Infor ranks No. 3 in the enterprise resource market, trailing only SAP and Oracle.

The timing of the sale was prompted by several factors. First, HIT is bidding on government contracts of up to $100 million and needed a "big brother" on the scale of Infor to help win those deals.

In addition, Hansen and his wife, Deborah, are expecting a child in October.

And Hansen, whose passion is playing the bass saxophone, has formed an online music business called Netmusicmakers. com, which sells digital music loops to use in recordings. He also is building a music recording studio to be called "House of Hansen Productions."

"I'm being pulled in a lot of different directions at once," he said.

Infor was formed five years ago to acquire firms such as Hansen. Among its biggest deals were the $1 billion acquisition of GEAC, which made software for the apparel and consumer goods market, in March 2006 and the $1.4 billion purchase of SSA Global, which developed software for manufacturing and warehousing businesses, in July.

Hansen is the 30th acquisition for Infor, a privately held company with 8,100 employees worldwide and revenue of about $2.1 billion.

The purchase of Hansen marks the latest sale of local tech firms to outside businesses. Others sold in the past 10 months include MaxPreps Inc., CoreLogic Systems Inc., Serious Magic Inc., Sierra Logic Inc. and International DisplayWorks Inc.

Those sales are generally a healthy thing for the region because they signal to investors that the Sacramento area is an attractive place to invest, said Oleg Kaganovich, chief executive of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance.

"Anytime you can show there is liquidity in our market, that's a good thing," Kaganovich said. "It will decrease the perceived risk to investors."

About the writer:

• The Bee's Clint Swett can be reached at (916) 321-1976 or cswett@sacbee.com.