for servers running AIX and MVS and PC-compatible workstations running OS/2. With the release of CCC, Candle began pivoting away from mainframe software, the company simultaneously launching a $500 million research and development initiative to reinforce this pivot. The company also placed its first advertisement in a trade publication to communicate this move. In 1996, Candle made yet another pivot toward developing middleware for networked computers. To this end, Candle acquired several companies: CleverSoft, Inc., a provider of management tools for servers running Lotus Notes based in Scarborough, Maine; AMSYS North America, a service provider for MQSeries based in Mendon, Massachusetts; PowerQ Software Corporation, a maker of MQSeries software development and testing environments; and Apertus Technologies' MQView for distributed MQSeries installations. Employment in Candle reached 1,200 in 1996, approximately 550 of which working in the company's 29 branch offices. During this time, the company's mainframe software and middleware were used in roughly 5,000 mainframes, and it counted 75 percent of the Fortune 500 among its clientele. Candle relocated its headquarters again in 1999, moving about 700 employees from Santa Monica to a four-story 335,000-square-foot building in El Segundo—a building once occupied by Rockwell International for the assembly of B-1 Lancers. In the same year, the company shifted its focus to e-commerce and launched eBA*ServiceMonitor, a comprehensive monitoring application for online businesses. By the end of the millennium, Candle reached $382 million in revenue and employed 1,800 people total. The company reached the 2,000 employee mark in 2000, the same year sales reached $400 million. In the next year, the company released OMEGAMON XE and DE, configurations of their flagship product centered on e-businesses, and a software-as-a-service platform, CandleNet eBusiness Platform, which facilitated the deployment of e-commerce services. The split between mainframe and non-mainframe pursuits within the company was 60-to-40 by this point. In 2002, the company released PathWAI, a line of software packages and consulting services for streamlining the process of designing and developing middleware and web server back-ends. Candle reached $207 million in revenue in 2002 and $328 million in sales in 2003. IBM acquired Candle Corporation in April 2004 for an undisclosed sum. The deal was reportedly worth between $350 million and $600 million. After the acquisition, IBM absorbed Candle's assets into their Tivoli Software division. References IBM acquisitions 1976 establishments in Ontario 1977 disestablishments in Ontario 1977 establishments in California 2004 disestablishments in California American companies established