Teradata Corporation, which already had an 11% ownership interest in Aster Data Systems, Inc, has signed a definitive agreement to pay $263 million for the remaining ownership interest in the company. Aster Data is a provider of software for advanced analytics and the management of a variety of diverse data that is not structured. The combination of Teradata and Aster Data technologies will enable businesses to unlock the new intelligence within the burgeoning volumes of big data.
Teradata is acquiring Aster Data's business, including its intellectual property and technology product line, through a merger transaction. Teradata plans to support Aster Data's customers and integrate its employees immediately upon completion of the acquisition, which is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2011.
Teradata acquired the 11 percent ownership interest in Aster Data in September 2010, and has now agreed to pay $263 million for the remaining ownership interest, net of debt and other expenses. In addition, through this acquisition, Teradata will obtain approximately $21 million of cash which Aster Data is expected to have on its balance sheet at closing.
Big data, which is generally defined as being massive in volume with a mix of structured and unstructured data involving complex interrelationships that do not lend themselves to analysis with today's traditional techniques, is difficult to capture, store, manage and analyze. New sources of non-relational data include web applications, sensor networks, social networks, genomics, video and photographs.
Aster Data's strength is in deriving value from new types of data with new analytics capabilities such as graph analysis, and this unstructured data can be integrated with structured data in data warehouses, expanding the ability of companies to leverage the massive volumes of all of their data.
"Teradata is recognized as an innovator and leader in data warehousing, and the addition of Aster Data will enable us to leapfrog into a leadership position in the emerging big data market. This is a great opportunity and something our customers have been asking for," said Scott Gnau, chief development officer, Teradata Corporation. "I am very pleased to welcome Aster Data's talented employees to Teradata, when the transaction is completed, and to leverage Aster Data's sophisticated analytics and innovative processing of big data."
For more about Aster Data, go to www.asterdata.com.
For more about Teradata, go to www.teradata.com.