Shares of Unica Corp. (UNCA) spiked 120 percent to $20.81 Friday, after IBM Corp. (IBM) said it agreed to pay about $480 million in cash to acquire the Waltham, Mass.-based tech-advertising firm. Unica shareholders will get $21 a share in cash, a whopping premium of around 120% from Thursday’s close of $9.55.
“Together with IBM, we will bring our leading enterprise marketing management solutions to a wider set of customers worldwide and with a much broader, more comprehensive portfolio,” Yuchun Lee, Unica’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Big Blue, which plans to spend $20 billion buying assets over the next five years, said it bought Unica to add more personalized marketing services to its arsenal.
“Unica was a clear choice for IBM based on its power to automate a broad set of marketing capabilities and its established reputation for delivering customer success in marketing to organizations around the world,” commented Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions.
IBM Corp. expects to close the deal sometime in the fourth quarter, subject to Unica shareholder approval, and the usual regulatory clearances and closing conditions.
Unica gained $11.22, or 117.49%, to $20.77 at 11:36 a.m. ET in Nasdaq trading. IBM’s shares eased 0.7% lower to $127.39.
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