Summary

June 3, 2005 - Lawson will merge with Intentia Software, a Swedish company, in a transaction worth about $500 million. The result will be company with nearly US$1-billion in revenues from a more balanced set of verticals, enterprise software product categories and geographies. Based on communications from the companies' managements, Ventana Research sees little impact on users -- as there will be no attempt to combine products or integrate the day-to-day workings of the companies in the near term. To the extent there were viability questions about Lawson or Intentia in the minds of customers, we expect they may be allayed, but competitors also are likely to instill fear about future product plans. In short, the merger starts with the best intentions - it will take a year or so to see what the next steps will likely be and to assess the impact they will have on the company and its combined user base.