IBM Nears Deal To Buy Software Company Apptio For $5 Billion

International Business Machines Co. IBM is nearing a deal for the acquisition of Apptio Inc., a cloud-based business software company, for about $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

According to the report, the deal between the companies could be completed over the weekend. 

Apptio, taken private by Vista Equity Partners in 2019 for about $2 billion, could be a possible asset for technology giant IBM as the former is considered a big player in helping companies manage their spending on technology. Another Vista-backed software company Cvent was sold in July to private equity giant Blackstone for $4.6 billion.

In 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported that Vista exited its investment in Ping Identity through a $2.8 billion sale to fellow tech-focused private-equity firm Thoma Bravo. 

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The sale of Apptio would represent a rare private-equity exit as dealmaking across the U.S. plummeted about 40% compared with the same period in 2022. The deal follows IBM's purchase of software provider Turbonomic for over $1.5 billion and its 2019 acquisition of software company Red Hat for $35 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The outlet noted that, in 2022, IBM closed the sale of the healthcare data and analytics assets that were a part of its IBM Watson Health operation.

The company IBM is also exploring a sale of its weather operation, which includes The Weather Company's business-to-business, mobile and cloud-based businesses, including Weather.com. The deal could fetch IBM more than $1 billion in a sale. 

In April, IBM reported first-quarter revenue of $14.25 billion. The company said it focused on increasing productivity and generating operating leverage in the quarter. Free cash flow from operating activities totaled $3.8 billion. Free cash flow came in at $1.3 billion.

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