By Lisa Kerner
Charlotte, N.C., Nov. 12 - IBM Corp. agreed to acquire Cognos Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $4.9 billion, or $58 per share, as part of IBM's Information on Demand strategy, which was announced in February of 2006 and combines information integration, content and data management and business consulting services.
The transaction, subject to shareholder approval, is slated to close in the first quarter of 2008, a company news release stated. It will be the 23rd acquisition made under the Information on Demand initiative.
IBM will integrate Cognos as a group within IBM's information management software division. Current Cognos president and chief executive officer Rob Ashe will lead the group.
"Customers are demanding complete solutions, not piece parts, to enable real-time decision making," IBM software group senior vice president and group executive Steve Mills said in the release.
"Our broad set of capabilities - from data warehousing to information integration and analytics - together with Cognos, position us well for the changing business intelligence and performance management industry. We chose Cognos because of its industry-leading technology that is based on open standards," Mills added.
Ashe noted that the companies have minimal overlap in products and that the merger will result in a broad range of technology synergies.
IBM has partnered with Cognos for more than 15 years.
It was previously reported in September that Cognos agreed to acquire Applix, Inc. for $17.87 per share in a cash tender offer. The transaction, valued at some $339 million, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007. Applix is a business analytics software solutions company based in Westborough, Mass.
Cognos is a business intelligence and performance management software solutions company located in Ottawa.
IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., develops computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics.
| Acquirer: | IBM Corp.
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| Target: | Cognos Inc.
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| Announcement date: | Nov. 12
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| Transaction total: | $4.9 billion
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| Price per share: | $58.00
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| Expected closing: | First quarter of 2008
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| Stock price of target: | Nasdaq: COGN: $52.98 on Nov. 9
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