Software giant Microsoft has signed a letter of intent to acquire Israeli text analysis vendor Equivio.
That’s according to Bloomberg sources who say that, should no other bidders enter the fold, the agreement should be concluded in a matter of weeks.
Equivio develops software to analyse legal documents and corporate information. Microsoft’s move for the start-up has been seen as way for the Washington-based company to focus more on data analysis after launching new tools last April to help organisations scan and scrutinise their own information.
The Wall Street Journal reports the cost of acquiring Equivio could be about US$200m, though Bloomberg believes Microsoft will pay less than that for the company.
Last month, Microsoft made the latest in a series of major cuts to staff numbers as it attempts to streamline the business and change its focus to being a cloud and mobile-first company. The financial cost of these job cuts were expected to total somewhere in the region of US$1.1bn and US$1.6bn.
Microsoft image via Shutterstock
