8 November 2005 Management software vendor Computer Associates (CA) has all but severed its ties with Ingres, the groundbreaking relational database system, spinning off the unit and retaining only a minority holding.

This week CA officials confirmed that it had divested itself of the Ingres database unit, creating a privately held business, Ingres Corporation. CA will only retain a minority stake, with private equity investors Garnett &Helfrich Capital taking majority ownership.

Ingres Corporation will focus on development and opportunities within the open source market.

Ingres started out as a software project at the University of California, Berkley in the 1970s, which went on to spawn a number of commercial relational databases, including Sybase and Microsoft’s SQL Server.

CA acquired the Ingres technology as part of a 1994 buyout of ASK/Ingres, but has consistently struggled to tie the technology into its portfolio. In 2004, CA released Ingres R3 as an open-source project, in an attempt to re-ignite interest in the technology, offering incentives to those developing tools.

John Swainson CA’s president and CEO said the spin off came as part of “looking closely at its solutions portfolio and deciding how to best focus investment dollars on growth areas.” Further sales could follow.

The deal – details of which were not disclosed – marks Garnett & Helfrich’s second buyout since the firm was created last year. Earlier this year, the firm took a controlling stake in Wyse Technology.

Terry Garnett, MD of Garnett &Hilfrich said: “By moving the Ingres product to an independent company, we can more effectively capitalise on market momentum by attracting top industry talent.”