Open Text has outgunned rival suitor Symphony Technology Group for the hand of Hummingbird.

Open Text is paying $489m cash for the enterprise content management vendor, trumping an earlier $465m agreed bid from Symphony. Open Text says that Hummingbird is a "strategic fit", but there will surely be scope for back office and real estate savings, especially in Canada, where both companies have their headquarters.

Symphony (http://www.symphonytg.com/company/) may be smarting, but as it is a private equity firm first, and operator of software companies second, the $11.7m break fee will go a long way to easing the pain. ®

Related link

Open Text release (http://www.opentext.com/news/pr.html?id=1757)

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• On Hummingbird's takeover tussle (2 August 2006)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/02/hummingbird_takeover_battle/

• Open Text aims for integrated Web publishing (30 April 2004)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/30/open_text_web_publishing/

• Open Text: big, bigger, biggest (22 October 2003)

  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/22/open_text_big_bigger_biggest/