IBM Might Purchase Sun Microsystems?

Rachel Segal — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:32:20 +0000

As I look at who’s reporting on this story, it’s incredible to see the number of question marks at the end of each title. Usually this might be a sign of something being unconfirmed…or simply a story that the writer doesn’t believe to be a good idea.

In the case of IBM potentially buying Sun Microsystems, it appears the consensus is that this would be a strange decision. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that IBM may pay as much as US$6.5 billion in cash for Sun, which nearly double Sun’s closing share price on Tuesday of $4.97 per share.

However, even though the merger could be a challenging fit, given the product overlap and headache of assimilating two very different cultures with each other, this could result in improved products and services all around. Sun has struggled over the last several years, even though they are considered among many folks to be a superior player in the technology space.