Friday, April 02, 2004

WSJ.com - IBM to Acquire Candle Corp., Boosting Corporate Software

WSJ.com - IBM to Acquire Candle Corp., Boosting Corporate Software "The companies declined to disclose terms of the deal. Jean-Pierre Garbani, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said he estimates the price at $350 million to $600 million, depending on whether Candle, El Segundo, Calif., was carrying substantial cash on its books. Candle's software revenue in 2002, the latest year available, was $207 million, according to a survey by International Data Corp.
IBM, Armonk, N.Y., is best known for its computer services and hardware, but its software division reported revenue of $14.31 billion last year and accounted for 35% of pretax income. IBM isn't known for applications software, such as the word processing or spreadsheet programs ubiquitous on desktops. Instead, it specializes in software that operates computers and the expanding sector that it calls "middleware" -- programs such as its Websphere suite for managing Internet transactions."

No comments: