Actuate Gets NimbleActuate Gets Nimble

Consolidation within the business-intelligence software industry goes on. Actuate Corp. said Tuesday that it has acquired Nimble Technology Inc., a privately held developer of enterprise information integration software, for an undisclosed price.

Actuate will add the Nimble technology to its enterprise reporting software, the Actuate Information Application Platform, over the next six to nine months, according to the company. That will make it easier for Actuate's software to access data from a broader range of disparate data sources and even real-time data feeds.

Nimble was founded in 1999 as part of a University of Washington research project. Nimble's software can access multiple data sources simultaneously, using Xquery technology and an XML-based query engine to integrate data from relational and nonrelational data sources, including unstructured data.

Nimble's development team in Seattle will join Actuate's staff, says Nobby Akiha, Actuate's marketing VP. Actuate doesn't plan to sell the Nimble software as a standalone enterprise information integration product and will continue to work with other software vendors, including IBM and BEA Systems Inc., Akiha says.

Actuate's buyout of Nimble is the latest in a wave of acquisitions to hit the business-intelligence software space. Business Objects SA said July 18 that it's acquiring Crystal Decisions Inc. for $820 million, followed by news last week that Hyperion Solutions Corp. will acquire Brio Software Inc. for $142 million.

Actuate on Tuesday also reported results for its second quarter ended June 30. The company reported a loss of $1.9 million, or 3 cents per share, on sales of $26.0 million. That compares with net income of $1.1 million, or 2 cents per share, on sales of $27.5 million in the same period last year.