IBM to SAS: From Hell’s Heart I Stab at Thee
by John Paczkowski
Posted on July 28, 2009 at 8:44 AM PT
According to IDC, the worldwide market for business analytics software will swell to $25 billion this year. Little wonder, then, that IBM is beefing up its presence in that sector with the $1.2 billion acquisition of data analysis software maker SPSS.
Under the terms of the deal, IBM will pay $50 per share in cash for SPSS. That’s a 43 percent premium over the company’s closing price Monday, but one that’s well worth it to IBM, which sees great value in SPSS’s specialized software and its expertise in data collection, predictive analysis and statistical modeling.
Big Blue says the acquisition will do great things for its newly-formed Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting structure, a unit that offers clients strategic guidance through data analysis.
This is IBM’s second business analytics-related acquisition this summer. In May, the company acquired data discovery technology provider Exeros for an undisclosed sum. When IBM CEO Sam Palmisano pledged earlier this year to “go on offense” in the recession by making acquisitions and investing in research, he wasn’t kidding. Business analytics powerhouse SAS best watch its back.
Comments
I wonder what it would take to acquire SAS.
If Microsoft were serious about challenging anyone in the consulting business they would find out (but I don’t think they are).
Posted by Mac Beach at July 28th, 2009 at 12:38 pm