Sept 9 (Reuters) - Progress Software ( PRGS ) said on

Monday it would buy Cloud Software Group's unit ShareFile for

about $875 million, as the AI-powered software firm looks to

boost its enterprise product portfolio.

The transaction is expected to close within Progress' fiscal

year ending Nov. 30.

ShareFile, launched in 2005 by Jesse Lipson, uses advanced

encryption methods when sending and storing files. The unit is

expected to contribute $240 million to Progress' annual revenue,

driven by its customer base of more than 86,000.

Burlington, Massachusetts-based Progress has a market value

of about $2.5 billion. Its products are used by customers to

automate business processes, transfer data, and fix network

problems by monitoring IT infrastructure.

Progress said it would also suspend its quarterly dividend

as of the closing of the ShareFile acquisition, as it plans to

redirect capital toward the repayment of debt to increase

liquidity for future deals and for share repurchases.

Progress on Monday also said it expects revenue and adjusted

earnings per share for its fiscal third quarter to be within or

above the high end of the forecast it provided on June 25.