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Business software specialist ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) announced a piece of business on Wednesday, and the market rewarded the company for it. The stock ended that day's trading session more than 2% higher, in contrast to the flat performance of the S&P 500 index.
A full-circle acquisition
Before market open, ServiceNow broke the news that it has acquired Quality 360, a solution from Sweden-based IT services provider Advania. The platform is aimed at the manufacturing industry and was built on ServiceNow's solutions.
The acquirer did not specify either the price or the leading terms of the deal.
In the press release touting the purchase, ServiceNow said of its new asset that it has the ability to "empower manufacturers with proactive, data‑driven insights to address end‑to‑end quality issues, ultimately helping to minimize operational costs and reputational risks."
It also holds quite the cutting-edge solution that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide insight, according to the company.
ServiceNow quoted Rohit Batra, its general manager of manufacturing, telecom, media and tech industries as saying that
By integrating Advania's Quality 360 into the ServiceNow platform, we're providing manufacturers with the AI‑driven insights and automation they need to proactively manage quality issues, drive operational efficiency, and enhance customer trust.
Lack of detail
Given its origin, Quality 360 is already a highly compatible, almost plug-and-play acquisition for ServiceNow. That, plus the fact that it offers a very useful service to a potentially lucrative user base, makes it a clear win for its new owner.
That said, it's hard to ascertain just how much of a win, as we don't know even the basic outlines of the ServiceNow/Advania deal. Investors, though, seem to be satisfied enough that Quality 360 is now in the company's portfolio.
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