IBM joins rush for cloud companies, buys San Mateo's DemandTec for $440 million

IBM joined Oracle (ORCL) and SAP in storming into the cloud-based software business Thursday, agreeing to buy San Mateo-based DemandTec for about $440 million.

IBM will pay $13.20 cents a share for the 12-year-old company, 56.6 percent more than the company's share price of $8.43 at Wednesday's close, the companies announced.

DemandTec offers software-as-a-service, or SaaS, analytics to companies, who use the research to determine trends in shoppers' habits, allowing them to better set prices, make purchasing decisions and decide on promotions, according to a report in MercuryNews.com.

Fellow San Mateo-based cloud software company SuccessFactors was purchased by German tech giant SAP on Saturday for $3.4 billion, a 52 percent premium to that company's stock price. Oracle had already made an acquisition aimed at a greater presence in the sector, purchasing RightNow Technologies for $1.4 billion in October.  >>More here

SOURCE:  mercurynews.com