IBM TO ACQUIRE PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS PROVIDER SPSS

Posted July 28, 2009

ARMONK, N.Y. and CHICAGO – IBM (NYSE: IBM) and SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS) today announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for IBM to acquire SPSS, a publicly-held company headquartered in Chicago. The all-cash transaction, at a price of $50 per share, puts the deal at approximately $1.2 billion. The acquisition is subject to SPSS shareholder approval, applicable regulatory clearances, and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the second half of 2009.

“With this acquisition, we are extending our capabilities around a new level of analytics that not only provides clients with greater insight -- but true foresight,” says Ambuj Goyal, General Manager, Information Management, IBM. “Predictive analytics can help clients move beyond the ‘sense and respond’ mode, which can leave blind spots for strategic information in today’s fast paced environment -- to ‘predict and act’ for improved business outcomes.”

This acquisition is expected to further expand IBM’s Information on Demand (IOD) software portfolio and business analytics capabilities, including the range of offerings available through IBM’s recently announced Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting organization and network of Analytics Solution Centers. The acquisition is also expected to strengthen IBM’s Information Agenda initiative, which helps companies turn information into a strategic asset.

IBM is expanding its focus on business analytics technology and services to meet growing client needs to cut costs, reduce risk, and increase profitability through predictive analytics capabilities, which include advanced data capture, data mining, and statistical analysis. These capabilities help organizations analyze trends and patterns found in historical and current data to drive new forms of competitive advantage by predicting potential future outcomes and optimizing all elements of their businesses, including product and service offerings for customers.

The acquisition of SPSS will add a wide array of advanced analytic capabilities to IBM’s IOD software portfolio enabling many new industry-focused solutions, including: customer acquisition and retention for financial services, as well as solutions for the health-care industry, crime prevention, and retail and manufacturer store location concerns.

When the deal closes, IBM intends to integrate SPSS within IBM’s Information Management software portfolio and into the many industry offerings already available. Predictive analytics will also be an essential component of the smarter business systems that IBM is helping companies and organizations build to help confront the complex challenges presented by the exponential growth of data.