Microsoft Component Vendors To Merge

As Microsoft’s TechEd 2012 conference opens in Orlando, Florida, Microsoft component provider GrapeCity announced it is to acquire partner ComponentOne.

GrapeCity, based in Sendai, Japan, has been in the software business for 25 years and has long been a provider of Microsoft components. ComponentOne, based in Pittsburgh, with globally based facilities, is a leader in the Microsoft Visual Studio component industry and is a premier partner of Microsoft.

Merger

According to recent blog posts, GrapeCity will acquire ComponentOne as of 1 July.

In a recent blog post, Rich Dudley, a technical evangelist for ComponentOne, said, “For nearly two decades, ComponentOne and GrapeCity have enjoyed a very close relationship. In Japan, GrapeCity PowerTools are the top selling controls, and they include localised versions of ComponentOne studios. Our companies have collaborated at the highest levels for many years.”

The two companies have worked together since 1994. With the purchase of ComponentOne, GrapeCity PowerTools and ComponentOne will be merged into a new company, known as “ComponentOne, a Division of GrapeCity”, Dudley said.

“ActiveReports and Spread will again be rebranded, to ComponentOne ActiveReports and ComponentOne Spread. In the coming weeks, the GrapeCity PowerTools office in North Carolina will be closed, many GrapeCity personnel will move to Pittsburgh (the home of ComponentOne) and all ComponentOne personnel will become GrapeCity employees,” he said.

TechEd 2012 debut

TechEd 2012 will be the “debutante ball” for the new ComponentOne, Dudley said.

“It will be difficult to miss us, and you’ll probably notice a new spring in everyone’s step. You can take great pride in your work when you know you are providing developers controls that complement Microsoft controls better than any other vendor on the market. Our controls are built by developers, for developers, who understand the need for easy and familiar controls, giving one more time to focus on business logic. Nowhere else can you find such powerful reporting tools, amazing Excel-like spreadsheet controls and well designed business intelligence and data visualisation tools.”

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