SAKAI: Asahi Net Interational has acquired the Sakai Division of rSmart. The move bolsters the Japanese company's move into the higher-ed LMS market in the U.S.
Asahi Net International is the subsidiary of Asahi Net, a major Internet service provider in Japan. In 2007, Asahi Net developed manaba, a cloud-based learning management system, that is now used by 190 universities around the world. In April 2011, it established Asahi Net International in New York to introduce manaba to the U.S markets. (It currently lists Harvard Business School as one of its customers.)
rSmart, founded in 2002 and based in Scottsdale, AZ, develops enterprise resource planning solutions to help universities and colleges with tasks like research administration and compliance, financial management and reporting, business process automation, and student services. One of its offerings is Sakai, a learning management system that currently boasts users at 350 academic and commercial institutions around the world.
It's not the first time that the two companies have encountered one another. In August 2012, Asahi Net International, along with GSV Capital and others, invested $10.75 million in rSmart. Jim Farmer has more details on the deal over at e-Literate.
