[Infowarrior] - IBM to Buy SPSS for $1.2 Billion

[Richard Forno]

IBM to Buy SPSS for $1.2 Billion to Gain Analytics (Update1)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoMQ.s71r3UI

By Julie Alnwick

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- International Business Machines Corp., the  
world’s biggest computer-services provider, said it will buy SPSS Inc.  
for about $1.2 billion in cash to gain analytics software.

The per-share price is $50, the companies said today in a statement.  
Chicago-based SPSS’s technologies help businesses assess data,  
determining demand and analyzing patterns to detect fraud.

IBM, led by Chief Executive Officer Sam Palmisano, will use the  
purchase to bolster the software business, where profit margins are  
more than twice as big as in services. Palmisano pledged this year to  
“go on offense” in the global recession, making acquisitions and  
investing in research. This month, IBM raised its full-year profit  
target to $9.70 a share from $9.20.

Armonk, New York-based IBM dropped 1 cent yesterday $117.63 on the New  
York Stock Exchange. SPSS was halted in early trading after closing at  
$35.09 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The companies expect the transaction to close in the second half of  
the year.

(SPSS will hold a conference call at 10 a.m. New York time today to  
discuss the transaction. To listen, go to www.spss.com/invest.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Alnwick in New York at jalnwick at bloomberg.net