IBM to acquire Canada's Cognos for $5 billion

15 November 2007

Cognos makes software that analyses businesses by combing through vast amounts of data.

The price offered by IBM is a 9.5 per cent premium over Cognos'' US closing share price of $52.98 on the Nasdaq.

IBM said the all-cash deal is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

Cognos brings in a lot of synergy for Big Blue. IBM can integrate Cognos with its focus on information integration and content and data management. Cognos, which is built on a services oriented architecture, also plays well with IBM''s SOA strategy.

Cognos CEO Rob Ashe will lead IBM''s information management software division. Ashe will report to General Manager Ambuj Goyal.

Cognos has a few interesting business intelligence applications on the drawing board, notably better plug-ins with Excel and an array of Web 2.0 modules.