Just a couple of weeks after SSA Global Technologies drew a line in the sand over no further significant enhancements to HP 3000 ERP staple MANMAN, the company dusted off its checkbook to announce its intention to acquire Infinium Software, a rival in the iSeries and AS/400 ERP marketplace. Infinium has 1,800 customers running its ERP applications on the IBM servers, and becomes the second ERP supplier which SSA GT intends to purchase this year. The company purchased the ERP solutions and the MANMAN customer base from Computer Associates this spring.

SSA GT CEO Mike Greenough said his company is after high-value brands on cost-effective computer platforms. “We look forward to welcoming Infinium’s customers as they become part of SSA GT, and are excited about the opportunity to provide them with a broader set of applications that will continually extend the life of their existing investments in Infinium solutions,” said Greenough. The deal to purchase Infinium is subject to regulatory approval and a vote of the Infinium shareholders, but SSA GT expects to close the transaction by the end of the year. The acquisition consolidates the iSeries’ market’s ERP sector, an area where IBM hopes to win HP 3000 customers away from HP with the help of application providers like SSA GT.