AllThingsD » Cognos

IBM in Post-Sun Rebound Acquisition

John Paczkowski — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:33:11 +0000

Looks like IBM found another use for some of the $6.5 billion it had considered using to acquire Sun (JAVA). This morning the company said it is acquiring Exeros, a data relationship discovery company that it plans to roll into into its business analytics unit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Exeros’s technology is apparently very, very good at finding connections between data across multiple databases and IBM feels it will do much for the business intelligence efforts that it last bolstered with the $4.9 billion acquisition of Cognos. Said Lise Neely, product marketing manager for IBM’s enterprise management information tools portfolio, “IBM has data discovery features; the Exeros acquisition will improve it.”

IBM Mulling Sun "Resource Action"?

John Paczkowski — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:58:59 +0000

Neither Sun nor IBM will confirm that the two companies are even in talks, but the two will reportedly announce their merger on Monday–not today, as previously thought. That’s the word from Bloomberg, which confirms claims that IBM (IBM) intends to pay between $9 and $10 a share for Sun (JAVA). The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, pegs the price at $9.55 per share, or about $7 billion. At that price, the acquisition will be the largest in IBM’s history, surpassing even its $5 billion purchase of Cognos in 2007.

And after the deal, then what? Massive layoffs, most likely. Analysts say redundancies between the two companies’ businesses could cause IBM to sack as much as a third of Sun’s employees in one of those “resource actions” it’s so fond of. “This deal is definitely going to lead to a lot of combined layoffs,” Forrester Research analyst James Staten told Forbes. “And it wouldn’t be a surprise if most of that bloodletting happened on the Sun side.”

IBM Mulling Sun "Resource Action"?

John Paczkowski — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:58:59 +0000

Sun's Big Blue Light Special

John Paczkowski — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:26:06 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

Sun's Big Blue Light Special

John Paczkowski — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:26:06 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

IBM, Sun Deal Friday?

John Paczkowski — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:00:05 +0000

How badly does Sun (JAVA) want its acquisition deal with IBM to go through? So badly that it’s willing to lower its purchase price for assurances that Big Blue will finish the deal. People familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal that Sun has agreed to lower its takeover price to between $9 and $10 per share from $10 to $11 on the condition that IBM (IBM) commits to acquiring it regardless of a government antitrust review.

Talks between the two companies continue. And, according to DealBook, which pegs the price at $9.50 a share, a deal could be announced as soon as Friday. If it is, it will likely prove the largest in IBM’s history, surpassing its $5 billion acquisition of software maker Cognos in November 2007.

Big BI Buy for Big Blue

John Paczkowski — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:00:08 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

And in the Cage to Your Left Is 'Lonesome Cognos,' Last of the Great Business-Intelligence Software Vendors

John Paczkowski — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:01:39 +0000

“The business-intelligence space is undergoing massive changes. Oracle’s acquisition of Hyperion was the first domino to fall. SAP’s deal with Business Objects is the second one. Now the question is, which will be the next domino to fall,” Gartner VP Andreas Bitterer asked last month. Answer: Cognos.

In a year during which Hyperion was bought by Oracle, and Cartesis and ALG Software acquired by Business Objects, which is itself being purchased by SAP, Cognos was the last of the independent business-intelligence software vendors and a particularly attractive acquisition target (IDC estimates the market for business intelligence is worth about $6.3 billion in worldwide software revenue).

No surprise then to hear that IBM has made a $4.9 billion bid for Ottawa-based Cognos. Big Blue will pay $58 a share in cash for the company–a 9.5% premium over its Nov. 9 closing price–which it plans to fold into its Information Management Software division.

Steve Mills, head of IBM’s software group, insists the company’s bid isn’t a knee-jerk response to the recent flurry of acquisitions in the business-intelligence space. “We never do acquisitions on defensive moves or based on what others are doing,” he said.

But it’s tough to take him at his word when the premium IBM’s paying for Cognos suggests there may have been a bit of a bidding war for the company. “Cognos was the last large publicly traded BI player out there,” said Paradigm Capital analyst Gabriel Leung. “The space is growing well. It was a defensive play by IBM. They’d looked around at what Oracle and SAP were doing.”

And in the Cage to Your Left Is 'Lonesome Cognos,' Last of the Great Business-Intelligence Software Vendors

John Paczkowski — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:01:39 +0000