IBM Corp. announced Tuesday that it plans to acquire Web analytics and marketing optimization company Coremetrics Inc. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed.
The acquisition of Coremetrics would further expand IBM’s software and services business, in particular in the area of marketing analytics and reporting. Last fall, IBM bought predictive analytics company SPSS Inc. for $1.2 billion in cash, acquiring in the process software that helps companies analyze and forecast marketing and product trends.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Coremetrics serves 2,100 companies internationally, Including Bank of America, Office Depot and Virgin Atlantic, providing Web and mobile analytics solutions, targeted e-mail and ad tracking.
Coremetrics was considering a public offering of its stock when IBM came calling. It raised $113 million during the dot-com boom, but venture backers recapitalized the company in 2002, writing off their prior investment. Since then, it raised $111 million. Accel Partners and Highland Capital Partners are long-time backers.
