Posted by & filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business.

I.B.M.’s interest in acquiring the server computer maker Sun Microsystems for nearly $7 billion may seem at first to be a reversal of its recent efforts to move away from the hardware business. But analysts say there is more to Sun than servers, which are used in corporate data centers. They say its strengths in software, systems design and research make it an attractive target.

Source: NYTimes

Date: 3/18/2009

Keys: mergers and acquisitions, marketing, finance

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/companies/19sun.html

Questions for discussion:

  • Do you think the acquisition makes strategic sense for IBM? For Sun Microsystems?
  • What does each party gain by the merging of their resources into a larger market player?
  • Do you think that IBM  will be seen as a greater threat by competitors than before this merger?

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