Artificial intelligence and cloud computing are the current trends that attract major companies to compete for research and development or investment in order to gain a larger market share.
IBM announced on Monday (December 18) that it will acquire the enterprise technology platform of German software company Software AG for 2.13 billion euros (2.33 billion US dollars) to strengthen its artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud products.
IBM has issued a statement stating that it will acquire Software AG's StreamSets and webMethods platforms with cash on hand. This transaction will be completed in the second quarter of 2024 and currently requires regulatory approval.
These two platforms provide application integration, application programming interface (API) management, and data integration for other purposes. They form what Software AG calls the "Super Ipaas" business, which was launched in October last year.
It is reported that StreamSets will add data acquisition capabilities to IBM's artificial intelligence and data platform, Watsonx; And webMethods will provide additional integration and API management tools for hybrid multi cloud environments for customers and partners.
Software AG Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Christian Lucas, stated in a statement, "The StreamSets and webMethods teams will collaborate with IBM to innovate and provide opportunities for businesses to build hybrid cloud and next-generation artificial intelligence solutions, which is very attractive."
Currently, Software AG is majority owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, accounting for 93.3%.
In sync with IBM's announcement of the acquisition, Silver Lake announced that it is seeking to sell its shares in Software AG at a price of 32 euros ($34.96) per share, which is expected to be Silver Lake's next move. This transaction brings the overall valuation of Software AG to 2.6 billion euros (2.84 billion US dollars).