Progress shells out $262.5M for Bulgarian app development tools provider Telerik

Progress Software, the Bedford, MA-based enterprise software infrastructure firm, is buying the Bulgarian UI framework and app development tools outfit Telerik for $262.5 million, to help its customers make nicer user interfaces for their cloud and on-premise apps. Telerik is used by 1.4 million developers, including those at 450 of the Fortune 500 companies – founded in 2002, it started with a focus on Microsoft’s .NET platform before expanding to other platforms under the name “Kendo UI” (it consolidated its brands last year.) According to Progress CEO Phil Pead, the acquisition will make his company “a destination site for the largest developer population on the planet – ABL, .NET, Java, JavaScript, Node.js and mobile.”