Venture Capital Companies To Acquire CRM Vendor Onyx

CRM application vendor Onyx Software is being acquired by M2M Holdings, a venture capital holding company, for approximately $92 million in cash. The deal will be completed in the third quarter.

M2M, which is jointly owned by Battery Ventures VI and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, is expected to operate Onyx as a separate business unit and maintain the Onyx name, says Onyx CEO Janice Anderson. Onyx develops CRM applications for mid-size and large service companies in financial services, government, and health care markets.

M2M already owns Made2Manage Systems, which provides software and services for small manufacturing companies. M2M's goal is to develop a portfolio of software companies.

The CRM industry has been undergoing consolidation and is now dominated by Oracle and SAP, although Salesforce.com and other on-demand CRM app vendors are making gains.

For its first quarter ended March 31, Onyx reported a $2.2 million loss on sales of $12 million, compared to a $619,000 loss on sales of $14.1 million in the same period last year. M2M's owners have extensive financial resources that will help Onyx compete, Anderson says. "The market needs alternatives to the larger players."

No decisions have been made about post-acquisition management or staffing for Onyx.