PITTSBURGH — FreeMarkets Inc. signed an agreement Feb. 8 to buy software provider Adexa Inc., a producer of online tools for supply-chain collaboration.
The agreement will help members of Pittsburgh-based FreeMarkets manage direct-materials usage with its suppliers. FreeMarkets now offers private trading and plastic parts and materials auctions.
The publicly held company will issue 17.25 million shares and options in exchange for the outstanding shares of Adexa, based in Los Angeles. The aggregate purchase is for about $340 million, based on FreeMarkets´ current stock trading price. The transaction is scheduled to close during the second quarter.
Adexa has licensed its supply-chain-management software to such companies as Lucent Technologies Inc., Framatome Connectors International and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.
FreeMarkets also announced that it has opened an office in Hong Kong. The company has 19 offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
