Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. late Thursday said it has agreed to acquire a New Zealand firm that makes employee “talent management” software for the small businesses market, in a deal valued at about $14 million.

The Santa Monica human resources software company said buying Auckland-based Sonar Ltd. will combine two of the talent management industry’s most innovative providers and enable it to better penetrate the small business market. Talent management software helps human resource managers with workforce planning, compensation and benefits management and other needs.

Like Cornerstone, Sonar makes cloud-based software that customers access over the Internet by subscription, and will bring more than 375 clients to Cornerstone, which plans to pay $13 million in cash, and $1 million in stock for the company.

“Recent consolidation in the talent management space has disrupted the market and created many opportunities for Cornerstone,” said Chief Executive Adam Miller in a statement. “We saw a clear opening to accelerate our growth strategy and penetrate the (small business) market (globally).”

Shares earlier closed up $1.29, or 6.2 percent, to $22.12 on the Nasdaq.