My five-year-old son Eli is going through an intense Star Wars phase. Somewhat reluctantly, we let him watch The Phantom Menace the other night (not reluctantly for PG content, but because it is such an awful movie). Nevertheless, there was one good line in which the Jedis’ underwater ship is grabbed by a sea creature. Another creature grabs that one, biting it in half, and saving the Jedis (what is the plural of Jedi?). Liam Neeson comments, “There’s always a bigger fish.” This is true, but it is also why I always find it interesting when a seemingly smaller fish …

Leading the flurry of press releases that come out at each ALA meeting, SirsiDynix and Vista Equity Partners have announced the finishing toucheson the latter’s full acquisition of the former. As of today, Vista Equity Partners is sole owner of one of the biggest library automation firms. It’s worth noting that the financial picture has to do with the fact that Seaport Capital was invested in SirsiDynix with a tenure fund. The tenure ran out and SirsiDynix was looking for a new investor. While this might seem like an anathema to the library world, this is how the business world …

In a somewhat surprising announcement, SirsiDynix announced late last week that it had a “new investment partner,” Vista Equity. Details were scant but a formal (and only slightly more detailed) press release (pdf) was issued yesterday. Vista is a private equity firm with over $1 billion in capital, primarily in the software and technology sectors. SirsiDynix, of course, is one of the biggest players in the market, with nearly 4,000 clients. Sirsi and Dynix merged only 18 months ago to create the largest company in the library automation sector. “We are long-term investors in technology companies that are committed to …