OpenText is selling off its eDOCS unit to Utah-based NetDocuments for $163 million USD ($227.3 million CAD) in cash.
The Kitchener-Waterloo-based company began exploring the sale of its “non-core assets” in August to focus on its core business of information management for artificial intelligence. The eDOCS business, which helps legal professionals with document management, contributed approximately $30 million in revenue to OpenText’s latest fiscal year.
The deal includes integrating the eDOCS software and its associated customer contracts, services, and employees into NetDocuments. BetaKit has asked for details on the number of impacted workers. The transaction is expected to close by early 2026, when OpenText will use the sale proceeds to reduce its debt.
“This divestiture further enables our continued focus on growing our core business centered on secure information management for AI,” OpenText executive chairman and chief strategy officer Tom Jenkins said in a statement. “This transaction supports our capital allocation framework while strengthening our focus on businesses that will drive our future revenue growth.”
Jenkins added that OpenText will continue to explore opportunities that “rationalize” its non-core assets from its portfolio.
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The continued review of its assets is just one symptom of OpenText’s three-year “business optimization plan” that’s meant to bring the company’s costs in check. OpenText also replaced its CEO and CTO of nearly 14 years, Mark Barrenechea, this August after the company reported stalled revenue growth. In his stead, executive vice-president of international sales James McGourlay was named interim CEO while Jenkins spearheaded an executive search committee.
The executive change came shortly after CFO Chadwick Westlake left to become president and CEO of Equitable Bank. OpenText tapped former BlackBerry CFO Steve Rai to fill that vacancy this week.
Founded in 1991, OpenText provides a suite of cloud-based information management solutions to businesses, competing with the likes of IBM, ABBYY, and Hyland. The company has adapted over the years to introduce cloud and AI services, including cybersecurity and AI agents.
Feature image courtesy OpenText.