Ending months of speculation, ERP vendor Lawson Software has agreed to a buyout by a group led by Infor, a competitor in the ERP space run by former Oracle co-president Charles Phillips.

Under the terms of the deal, Lawson will be acquired by GGC Software Holdings, an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Infor. Stockholders of Lawson will receive $11.25 per share. The deal is slated to be completed in the third quarter, and will make Infor the No. 3 ERP software vendor, following SAP and Oracle.

In a release announcing the acquisition, Phillips, Infor’s CEO, noted Lawson’s legacy and strength of solutions as key assets in the deal.

“Lawson is a natural strategic partner for Infor, offering complementary software solutions that will extend our existing portfolio, particularly in areas such as healthcare, public sector, manufacturing and human capital management,” Phillips said. “Lawson’s and Infor’s respective best-of-class solutions will enable us to expand our commitment to our customers, delivering comprehensive ERP suites. We look forward to working closely with the Lawson team to build upon our distinct core competencies to offer an enhanced product portfolio and customer service experience.”

And in an open letter to Lawson customers on Infor’s website, Phillips said Lawson’s products will “receive additional investment and enhancement, and we plan to deliver incremental value quickly.”

Infor plans to integrate much of Lawson’s technology into the Infor portfolio “as soon after closing as possible,” Phillips said. “We also plan to innovate and change how customers deploy, use, and upgrade enterprise applications.” Exactly which product sets will be absorbed into the Infor line – and whether they will remain separate from the Infor line – remains to be seen.

The future of Lawson’s channel base also remains to be seen. Infor does have a channel partner program, so it would make sense Lawson’s partners would be absorbed into the Infor fold.

At its recent CUE event in Boston, Guy Leduc, Lawson’s vice president of Partners and Alliance, said the channel will play a more active role in 2011 as the company seeks to move beyond its established presence in health care and services and into the food, fashion and distribution verticals.

It had been rumored that Oracle was eyeing Lawson as a potential acquisition, which —  had it occurred – would have bolstered Lawson’s channel base significantly because of Oracle’s long history with and presence in the channel. That said, having Phillips – who co-ran Oracle from 2004 until September 2010 – at the helm of Lawson’s new ship could benefit its partners just as much.

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