Many news outlets are reporting today that IBM has announced that it will acquire SPSS for 1.2 billion dollars in cash. That’s $50 a share, a significant premium on the recent trading range of $30-$35. IBM clearly sees value in predictive analysis.
IBM has a strong history in supporting open-source projects: they are a significant contributor to Linux, for example. Given this, and SPSS’s recent flirtations with R, I wonder if IBM — or maybe a rival — will take an interest in R, too.
The Register: Big Blue blows a billion on predictive software seller
