Omniture Solidifies Position As Industry Leader With Visual Sciences Acquisition

Omniture (OMTR) late Thursday announced that it will buy Visual Sciences (VSCN), one of its primary rivals in the online business-optimization industry. Omniture will pay $2.39 a share in cash and 0.49 shares of OMTR stock for each VSCN share. Total compensation based on Wednesday’s closing price comes to $18.04 a share, or $394 million, but that total is now higher: the new value is $20.62 a share (it is a moving target, of course).

The company said the deal should be immediately accretive to earnings on a non-GAAP basis. The deal should close in early- to mid-2008.

In a research note Friday morning, J.P. Morgan’s Imran Khan notes that Omniture also indicated that third quarter results will top the high end of guidance, meaning more than $37.1 million in revenue, $5 million in EBITDA and 5 cents in non-GAAP EPS.

“We think the deal makes a great deal of sense, and opens up possibilities for strategic synergies, both near- and long-term,” Khan wrote. He says the deal “would solidify Omniture as an industry leader and the go-to solution in the analytics space.”

OMTR vs. VSCN 1-yr chart: