IBM to acquire Unica Corp.

Armonk, N.Y. IBM and Unica Corp. on Friday announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Unica in a cash transaction valued at approximately $480 million. A publicly held company in Waltham, Mass., Unica will expand IBM's ability to help organizations analyze and predict customer preferences and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.

"IBM understands the demands on today's organizations to transform core business processes in functions such as marketing with intelligence and automation," said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions.

Unica's 500 employees will be integrated into IBM's Software Solutions Group, which includes a range of industry-focused offerings. Unica software will complement the capabilities of IBM's Business Analytics and Optimization Consulting organization -- a team of 5,000 consultants and a network of analytics solution centers, backed by an overall investment of more than $11 billion in acquisitions in the last five years.

The acquisition is expected to close in fourth quarter 2010.