IBM agreed with AT&T to acquire B2B e-commerce software company Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately USD 1.4 billion in cash. Sterling has more than 18,000 customers worldwide and enables over 1 billion business interactions a year for clients in the financial services, retail, manufacturing, communications and distribution industries. Sterling's offerings complement IBM's middleware portfolio. By acquiring Sterling technology and its large trading partner network, IBM anticipates it will be able to deliver powerful new cross-channel products to its clients. In addition, Sterling technology will complement IBM's industry-focused software offerings, enabling the addition of capabilities to IBM's frameworks supporting the retail, manufacturing, communications, health care and banking industries. Consistent with its software strategy, IBM plans to continue to support Sterling clients and upgrade its new subsidiary's technologies while offering these organisations access to the broader IBM portfolio. Following the transaction's completion, approximately 2,500 Sterling employees will be integrated into IBM Software Group's WebSphere entity. IBM and AT&T expect the transaction to close in the second half, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. AT&T expects to record a one-time pretax gain of approximately USD 750 million in the quarter in which the transaction closes.
