IBM Buys Informix Software for $1 Billion

IBM Corp. and Informix Corp. announced April 24 they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Informix Software ? Informix's database company ? in a cash transaction valued at $1 billion.

Included in IBM's acquisition is Informix Federal, Informix's division responsible for sales to the U.S. government.

"They are very strong in [the government market]," said Joe Stunkard, IBM spokesman. "Their customer set, government customers included, is very attractive. Generally speaking Informix has a very strong, loyal customer base. We will support those customers ? that's something that's very strong in the IBM DNA here."

The purchase strengthens IBM of Armonk, N.Y., in the fast-growing distributed database business, an area the company considers a key strategic priority. IBM's distributed database revenues grew 36 percent year-to-year in the first quarter of 2001, the company said.

The database operation represents about 80 percent of Informix's business, Stunkard said. The remainder of Informix is concentrated in its Ascential Software business, an information asset management solutions business. When the sale is completed, the part not being bought by IBM will be renamed Ascential Software and use the proceeds of the sale to fund its growth. A substantial portion of the proceeds of the sale also will be returned to stockholders through a stock-reduction program.

Informix Software is a leading provider of database management systems for data warehousing, business intelligence and transaction processing, with an installed base of more than 100,000 customers worldwide.

Informix Software will be integrated into IBM's existing data management business, Stunkard said, with its nearly 2,500 employees becoming data specialists.