Software companies Infor and Lawson Software will merge after Lawson is acquired by GGC Software Holdings Inc., an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Infor. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.

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Together the businesses will serve more than 75,000 customers in verticals such as manufacturing, health care, distribution, public sector and hospitality.

This comes on the heels of the announcement in early April that Apax Partners has agreed to buy Activant Solutions Inc. and Epicor Software Corp., and merge the two software companies – both of which serve distribution. (Read: The Potential Impact of the Activant-Epicor Deal)

"Infor and Lawson will create a rich, integrated enterprise application suite. After the transaction closes, we plan to integrate many of the applications as soon after closing as possible, facilitated by a standards-based approach and the fact that both companies' applications are already service-enabled," said Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor.

According to a news release, Infor's manufacturing, supply chain, product lifecycle, workforce, and asset management products with Lawson's enterprise financials and human resources products will "improve business process flows and reduce integration costs via single sign-on, common look-and-feel and seamless navigation across composite applications deployed on-premise and in the cloud."

The companies said the merger would also result in deeper functionality in the verticals where the companies have complementary strengths such as healthcare, state and local government, wholesale distribution, fashion, food and beverage, equipment rental and service, and process and discrete manufacturing.