Wired - NEW YORK (Reuters) - IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc, sources with knowledge of the matter said, a move that could bolster the technology giant against rivals in the high-end computer server market.
International Business Machines Corp is offering to pay at least $6.5 billion, or double Sun's Tuesday closing price of $4.97, The Wall Street Journal reported online earlier. Shares of Sun jumped 64 percent in pre-market trading to $8.16, while IBM shares fell 2 percent to $90.89.
If they reach a deal, it would be IBM's largest-ever acquisition, and represent a departure from its recent strategy of focusing on deals to strengthen its software and services businesses, rather than hardware.
Analysts saw the talks as part of a consolidation trend, as Hewlett-Packard Co, IBM and Cisco Systems Inc jostle for control of corporate data centers and compete to supply the high-end computers that power complex corporate transactions and networks.
"It makes sense in an industry consolidation view, but looking at Sun's performance over the last couple of years, it's not one of my top picks for IBM to buy," said Jyske Bank analyst Robert Jakobsen, speaking from Denmark.
"Having said that, there's clearly a huge synergy combining these two companies," he said. "The market hasn't been kind to Sun Microsystems in the last 12 months. So it's not an expensive acquisition in my view."
Read More
