HCL to acquire IBM software for US$1.8bn

Global IT and outsourcing firm HCL Technologies is planning to buy a number of IBM software applications in the security, collaboration, and marketing automation spaces for US$1.8 billion. Sources said the acquisition will also include a large team of IBM sales and development people to help smooth the transition of customers. Also included in the acquisition are IBM Appscan, IBM BigFix endpoint management and security software, IBM Unica, and IBM WebSphere Commerce. Many of the product areas related to the planned software acquisition are strategic to HCL. HCL Technologies president C Vijayakumar said the acquisition is expected to close in mid-2019. He added that a big part of the acquisition is that HCL Technologies gets access to serve and grow over 5000 global enterprises across a wide range of industries and geographical markets.