News Summary: IBM buying SoftLayer; no terms
IBM buying cloud computing company SoftLayer Technologies; terms not disclosed
THE DEAL: IBM is expanding its online software business with the purchase of cloud computing company SoftLayer Technologies Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
IN THE CLOUDS: Privately held SoftLayer has 13 data centers in the U.S., Asia and Europe. IBM Corp., based in Armonk, N.Y., anticipates hitting $7 billion annually in cloud revenue by the end of 2015.
THE CLOSING: The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter. Once the transaction closes, SoftLayer and IBM's existing SmartCloud unit will be combined in a Cloud Services division.
