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Summer 2001
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IBM and Informix Corporation have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire the assets of Informix Software - Informix's database business - in a cash transaction valued at $1 billion.
The acquisition strengthens IBM in the fast-growing distributed database business, a key strategic priority for IBM. IBM's distributed database revenues grew 36% year-to-year in the first quarter of 2001.
"Customers are aggressively investing in data management software because data collection, storage and use are at the core of a successful e-business," said Sam Palmisano, president and chief operating officer of IBM. "This acquisition of Informix allows IBM to bring the benefits of leadership database technologies to more customers faster."
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 delivers high-performance database systems to customers in retail, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, media and publishing, telecommunications and other businesses. Key Informix customers include Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Sears and Sabre.
Once the acquisition is completed, IBM will:
"The acquisition by IBM is good news for Informix Software's database customers, partners, employees and stockholders," said Peter Gyenes, chairman and chief executive officer, Informix Corp. "IBM offers the global resources, investment protection, support and technology leadership our customers and partners need for the future, as well as exciting opportunities for our employees. This acquisition also extends the reach and relevance of key Informix technologies as they are evolved and integrated into future versions of IBM data management offerings."
Informix customers will also benefit from IBM's open platform strategy and broad array of alliances with leading application developers such as SAP, Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, Retek and many others worldwide. IBM intends to integrate selected Informix technology into future versions of DB2 Universal Database, which will remain IBM's flagship database product.
"Informix customers can be confident that their investments in existing Informix products are secure," said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software. "These customers will now have a long-term growth path that enables them to achieve the full potential of e-business."
Following the sale of the database business to IBM, Informix Corporation will be totally focused on its other independent operating business - Ascential Software. With annualized revenue in excess of $130 million, Ascential is a leading provider of information asset management solutions to the Global 2000. The Company intends to apply the proceeds from the transaction to fund the growth of Ascential as well as to return a substantial portion of the proceeds to stockholders through a stock-reduction program, details of which are expected to be announced at or shortly after closing. Upon the closing of the transaction, Informix Corporation will be renamed Ascential Software.
In a separate release today, IBM and Ascential Software announced a global strategic alliance to jointly develop and market information asset management solutions based on Ascential's DataStage, DataStage 390 and Media360 products as well as IBM's DB2 and related product platforms.
The acquisition is subject to Informix shareholder and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2001.
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Mixed Reactions“You can argue that in one fell swoop, IBM has legitimized the MultiValue market... It may seem trite to say that only time will tell what it will mean, but in this case I think it is certainly true. I am convinced from the communications I have had that IBM was well aware of the Universe and Unidata component of Informix and for the time being at least, they have certainly kept the U2 team intact.” Gus Giobbi ”Informix is one of those companies that succeeded in spite of its top brass. In the last few years it has suffered more CEOs than Spinal Tap had drummers, financial irregularities, and a presence in customers’ minds that never did justice to the quality of its products.” www.silicon.com “By IBM acquiring the U2 databases through the Informix acquisition, the multidimensional RDBMS industry is now getting the clout that it has always wanted but lacked. However, it is that same clout that will position IBM in the minds of management as the vendor for mdRDBMSs, and because of such IBM clout, the traditional mdRDBMS VARs are more likely to shift their applications from D3 to IBM’s U2, rather than the other way around.... Does that mean that IBM competitors, like Raining Data, can no longer thrive? As we all know, a rising tide raises all boats and IBM definitely is the rising mdRDBMS tide. Upon its waters others can prosper if they are smart enough to keep their PT boats out of the way of that carrier.” Henry Keultjes “If my business relied on UniVerse or Unidata I would question how serious a company that turned over $80+Billion per year was about a product set that contributed less than 0.005% of revenues. If I concluded that its focus would not be on the product I relied on I would look carefully at my alternatives.” Clive Ketteridge “This announcement is less about Informix Software as a company and more about IBM and its attempts to compete head-to-head with Oracle... While IBM announced plans to continue support and marketing for Informix’s DBMSs, it likely will focus aggressively on migrating Informix users to DB2... With a majority of Informix’s growth revenue coming from Informix IDS and Foundation 2000, IBM will target Redbrick and Cloudscape for end-of-life during the next 12 to 18 months (0.8 probability), followed by XPS, Unidata and Universe in two to two-and-a-half years (0.6 probability).” Gartner Group “I don’t know of anyone getting very excited about it. We have gone through enough name changes without any real change in direction, one more Clay Blakely |
Last Updated: 19 Jul 2001