IBM strikes deal to buy Red Hat for $ 34 billion

Here's the full statement:

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source cloud software, announced today that the companies have reached a definitive agreement under which Hat for $ 190.00 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $ 34 billion.

"The acquisition of Red Hat is a game-changer," said Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "IBM will become the world's # 1 hybrid cloud provider, offering companies the only open cloud solution that will unlock the full value of the cloud for their businesses.

"Most companies today are only 20 percent behind their cloud journey," she said. "The next 80 percent is about unlocking real business value and driving growth." This is the next chapter in the cloud. It requires shifting business applications to hybrid cloud, extracting more data and optimizing every part of the business, from supply chains to sales. "

"Open source is the default choice for modern IT solutions, and I'm incredibly proud of the role Red Hat has played in making a reality in the enterprise," said Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO, Red Hat. "Red Hat to an even greater audience -" "Joining Forces with IBM," "Red Hat to an even greater audience – all while preserving our unique culture and unwavering commitment" to open source innovation. "

This acquisition brings together the best-in-class hybrid cloud providers and will enable companies to securely move all business applications to the cloud. Companies today are already using multiple clouds. However, research shows that 80 percent of business workloads have yet to move to the cloud, held back by the proprietary nature of today's cloud market. This prevents multiple cloud clouds, data security, and multi-cloud cloud management.

IBM and Red Hat will be hired to address this issue and accelerate hybrid multi-cloud adoption. Together, they will help customers create cloud-native business applications faster, drive greater portability and security of data and applications across multiple public and private clouds, all with consistent cloud management. In doing so, they will draw on their shared leadership in key technologies, such as Linux, containers, Kubernetes, multi-cloud management, and cloud management and automation.

IBM's and Red Hat's partnership has been spanned 20 years, with IBM serving as an early supporter of Linux, collaborating with Red Hat to help develop and grow enterprise-grade Linux and more recently to bring enterprise Kubernetes and hybrid cloud solutions to customers. These innovations have become core technologies within IBM's $ 19 billion hybrid cloud business. Between them, IBM and Red Hat have contributed to other organizations.

"Today's announcement is the evolution of our long-standing partnership," said Rometty. "This includes our Hybrid Cloud collaboration announcement in May, a key precursor in our journey to this day."

With this acquisition, IBM will be committed to Red Hat 's open governance, open source contributions, participation in the open source community and development model, and fostering its widespread ecosystem ecosystem. In addition, IBM and Red Hat will be committed to the open source, through such efforts as the Patent Promise, the GPL Cooperation Commitment, the Open Invention Network, and the LOT Network.

Red Hat partnerships, including those with major cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba and more, in addition to the IBM Cloud. At the same time, Red Hat will be benefiting from IBM's hybrid cloud and enterprise IT scale in helping expand their open source technology portfolio to businesses globally.

"IBM is committed to being an authentic multi-cloud provider," said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President, IBM Hybrid Cloud. "In doing so, IBM will support open source technology wherever it runs, allowing it to scale significantly within commercial settings around the world."

Upon closing of the acquisition, Red Hat will join IBM's Hybrid Cloud as a separate unit, preserving the independence and neutrality of Red Hat's open source development and commitment, current product portfolio and go-to-market strategy, and unique development culture. Red Hat will continue to be led by Jim Whitehurst and Red Hat 's current management team. Jim Whitehurst will also join IBM's senior management team and report to Ginni Rometty. IBM intends to maintain Red Hat's headquarters, facilities, brands and practices.

"Red Hat's successful commitment to keeping the things that have made Red Hat successful – always thinking about the customer and the open source community -" said Paul Cormier, President, Products and Technologies, Red Hat. "Since the day we decided to open the door to the company, our mission has remained unchanged." And now, one of the biggest enterprise technology companies on the planet to an even greater swath of the enterprise. "