IBM to acquire Netezza for $1.7 billion

September 20th, 2010 - 10:36 pm ICT by BNO News  

ARMONK, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — IBM and Netezza Corporation on Monday announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Netezza for approximately $1.7 billion.

Netezza, a publicly held company based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, will be acquired, in a cash transaction worth $27 per share, to expand IBM’s business analytics initiatives. The acquisition is targeted to help the company’s clients gain faster insights into their business information, with increased performance at a lower cost.

“IBM is bringing analytics to the masses. We continue to evolve our capabilities for systems integration, bringing together optimized hardware and software, in response to increasing demand for technology that delivers true business value. Netezza is a perfect example of this approach,” said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software and Systems.

“Netezza strongly complements our business analytics capabilities and client base. Together, we have the opportunity to quickly leverage the technology and accelerate the offering,” Mills added.

Netezza is a leading provider of high-performance analytics in a data warehousing appliance, handling complex analytic queries 10 to 100 times faster than traditional systems. More than 350 clients across a variety of industries have adopted Netezza, including eHarmony, Neiman Marcus, Time Warner, Estee Lauder, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, United HealthGroup, Nationwide Insurance, Sapporo, NYSE Euronext, Virgin Media and others.

“The addition of Netezza will reinforce IBM’s focus in understanding clients’ needs by providing them a broader set of analytics capabilities and bringing the power of analytics right into the hands of business users at every level within an organization,” Arvind Krishna, general manager, Information Management, IBM, said.

The acquisition, which is subject to Netezza shareholder approval, applicable regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the current year.

In the last four years, IBM has invested more than $12 billion in 23 analytics related acquisitions, which is reflected int the company’s 14 percent analytics business growth in this year’s second-quarter.

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