IBM plans 1.3 billion dollars to buy cloud HR software vendors Kenexa

IBM said in Monday that it would acquire Kenexa, a cloud-based human resource application maker, to strengthen its corporate social software family.

IBM has agreed to pay $46 a share for Kenexa, with a total cash transaction worth about $1.3 billion, and Kenexa per share at $32.39 in Friday, meaning IBM offered a 42% premium to the company.

Kenexa, based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, employs nearly 9,000 customers, more than half of whom are Fortune 500 companies, which has about 2,800 employees and operates in 21 countries.

The Kenexa company manufactures a variety of cloud-based HR-enabled applications, such as photos, pay, performance management, and employee surveys. Kenexa also provides consulting services to match its software offerings.

IBM's acquisition of Kenexa company aims to strengthen its corporate social software and human resources software and services. IBM plans to continue to develop and support Kenexa products, as well as integrate these products with its own products.

"I hope we can quickly integrate all these values," Alistair Rennie, general manager of IBM's social services, told a news conference. ”

Kenexa's product suite and IBM's products and services are "the perfect combination", he says, with "little overlap".

Kenexa is the latest acquisition of the company's HR software market, and Oracle was fed up with Taleo in February, while SAP acquired SuccessFactors last December.

Paul Hamerman, analyst at Forrester Research, said that after reading the news bulletin of the deal and participating in the company's analyst meeting, he thought IBM's main interest was kenexa IT consulting services, and the integration of Kenexa should be seen in this sense, IBM gets what it wants: companies with solid IT consulting business and applications that integrate with IBM social software. "The hiring business has changed and is largely a tool for social networking," he says. ”

IDC analyst Lisa Rowan says the market has experienced tremendous growth and that large suppliers such as SAP, Oracle and IBM are looking for ways to get into the market.

"There has been a lot of buying activity in the market, which has attracted interest from large suppliers," she says. ”

IBM's goal, she says, is to increase the corporate social networking layer on kenexa apps, as social networking and social media have become a key part of recruiting.

IBM expects the acquisition of Kenexa to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, after it receives approval from KENEXA shareholders and regulatory authorities.

In the second quarter of 2012, as of June 30, Kenexa's income was $86.3 million trillion, with a net loss of $1.7 million, or a loss of 0.06% per share. In the second quarter of last year, the company's revenue was $69 million trillion, with a net loss of $1.6 million. (邹铮 Compilation)

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)