IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Netezza, a provider of business analytics based in Massachusetts, in a cash transaction at a price of USD27 per share or at a net price of approximately USD1.7bn, after adjusting for cash.
Netezza is expected to expand IBM’s business analytics initiatives to help clients gain faster insights into their business information, with increased performance at a lower cost.
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 2010.
Netezza is a provider of high-performance analytics in a data warehousing appliance that can be up and running in a matter of hours, handling complex analytic queries ten to 100 times faster than traditional systems.
Today, Netezza designs and develops its appliances on IBM systems technology and combined with IBM software powers many applications within organisations. The two companies have been partners for many years focused on workload optimised systems that deliver integrated systems, software and storage for analysing vast amounts of complex data.
"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," says 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."
"Our vision of an appliance-based Intelligent Economy aligns very well with IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy. Netezza appliances set the standard for performance and simplicity in data warehousing and analytics," says Jim Baum, president and chief executive of Netezza. "Our customers choose our appliances for their fast time to value and how they simplify analytics against big data. Together with IBM, we are looking forward to extending our capabilities to a much broader market."
With Netezza appliances, NYSE Euronext has cut the time it takes to load and extract historical data so it can run analytic queries more securely and efficiently, while reducing runtimes from hours to seconds.
Following the close of the acquisition, IBM intends to integrate Netezza within IBM’s Information Management software portfolio. Netezza has approximately 500 employees around the world.
