Agilent buys its own OSS company

Agilent is on a roll. After beating analyst forecasts for fourth quarter earnings, the company has snapped up operations-support-system (OSS) software maker Objective Systems Integrators for about $665 million.

Shares in Agilent, a spin-off from Hewlett-Packard Co., closed Friday's shortened session up to $50.94. Objective Systems jumped 22 percent in pre-session trading.

According to the deal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Agilent will pay $17.75 per share in cash for the OSS software maker.

The merger will cut Agilent's earnings by 2 cents per share in fiscal 2001, but will slightly bump up revenue growth for the year. The company also expects the purchase to generate about $618 million in goodwill, other intangibles and research and development.

The deal is expected to close in approximately six weeks.