Come già preannunciato
da channelcity i giorni scorsi,
Lenovo ha concluso la transazione finanziaria per portarsi in casa i server X86 di Ibm.Come successe anni fa, nel lontano 2005, quando Lenovo si comprò per 1,2 miliardi di dollari desktop e portatili Ibm, tra cui un brand importante come ThinkPad, anche questa volta la cinese Lenovo si è dimostrata l'interlocutore primario per Ibm.
La cifra stabilità è di ben 2,3 miliardi di dollari, di cui due in contanti e il resto in azioni, ben al di sotto del volume d’affari, pari a circa 5 miliardi di dollari che questo segmento di prodotto ha generato in Ibm, in termini di fatturato.
Secondo il Chief Executive Officer di Lenovo, Yang Yuanqing, questa acquisizione consentirà a Lenovo di raddoppiare in breve tempo l'attuale market share nel mercato dei server che oggi viene stimata dagli analisti in un 5% cambiando l'obiettivo precedente di Lenovo che puntava a raggiungere una market share del dieci percento entro tre anni.
Di contro cedendo il business dei server x86, big Blue rinuncia a circa un terzo del fatturato complessivo generato nel segmento di riferimento, valutato nell’ordine di 15 miliardi di dollari. L’acquisizione interessa quindi i System X, BladeCenter, Flex System, tutta la tecnologia server basata su processori Intel. Infine sul fronte server Ibm conserva la proprietà di tutti i sistemi a tecnologia Power così come la storica componente mainframe.
A seguire il comunicato ufficiale di Ibm.Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) and IBM (NYSE:
IBM) have entered into a definitive agreement in which Lenovo plans to acquire IBM’s x86 server business. This includes System x, BladeCenter and Flex System blade servers and switches, x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers and associated software, blade networking and maintenance operations. The purchase price is approximately US$2.3 billion, approximately two billion of which will be paid in cash and the balance in Lenovo stock.
IBM will retain its System z mainframes, Power Systems, Storage Systems, Power-based Flex servers, and PureApplication and PureData appliances.
The agreement builds upon a longstanding collaboration that began in 2005 when Lenovo acquired IBM’s PC business, which included the ThinkPad line of PCs. In the period since the companies have continued to collaborate in many areas.
IBM will continue to develop and evolve its Windows and Linux software portfolio for the x86 platform. IBM is a leading developer of software products for x86 servers with thousands of products and tens of thousands of software developer and services professionals who build software for x86 systems.
Lenovo and IBM plan to enter into a strategic relationship which will include a global OEM and reseller agreement for sales of IBM’s industry-leading entry and midrange Storwize disk storage systems, tape storage systems, General Parallel File System software, SmartCloud Entry offering, and elements of IBM’s system software portfolio, including Systems Director and Platform Computing solutions.
Following the closing of the transaction, Lenovo will assume related customer service and maintenance operations. IBM will continue to provide maintenance delivery on Lenovo’s behalf for an extended period of time, so customers should see little change in their maintenance support. Approximately 7,500 IBM employees around the world, including those based at major locations such as Raleigh, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei, are expected to be offered employment by Lenovo.
This agreement follows recent announcements by IBM that it will invest more than $1 billion in the new IBM Watson Group, and $1.2 billion to expand its global cloud computing footprint to 40 data centers worldwide in 15 countries across five continents. “This acquisition demonstrates our willingness to invest in businesses that can help fuel profitable growth and extend our PC Plus strategy”, said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, Lenovo. “With the right strategy, great execution, continued innovation and a clear commitment to the x86 industry, we are confident that we can grow this business successfully for the long-term, just as we have done with our worldwide PC business”.
“This divestiture allows IBM to focus on system and software innovations that bring new kinds of value to strategic areas of our business, such as cognitive computing, Big Data and cloud,” said Steve Mills, Senior Vice President and Group Executive, IBM Software and Systems. “IBM has a proven record of innovation and transformation, which has enabled us to create solutions that are highly valued by our clients".