IBM reached an agreement to acquire HashiCorp, a multi-cloud infrastructure automation company, for $6.4 billion, or $35 per share. HashiCorp’s product suite products provide infrastructure lifecycle management and security lifecycle management capabilities to allow organizations to automate hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
The announcement is a continuation of IBM’s focus and investment into transformational technology such as the hybrid cloud and AI.
“Enterprise clients are wrestling with an unprecedented expansion in infrastructure and applications across public and private clouds, as well as on-prem environments. The global excitement surrounding generative AI has exacerbated these challenges and CIOs and developers are up against dramatic complexity in their tech strategies,” said IBM chairman and CEO, Arvind Krishna. “HashiCorp has a proven track record of enabling clients to manage the complexity of today’s infrastructure and application sprawl. Combining IBM’s portfolio and expertise with HashiCorp’s capabilities and talent will create a comprehensive hybrid cloud platform designed for the AI era.”
The rise of cloud-native workloads and associated applications is driving a radical expansion in the number of cloud workloads enterprises are managing. In addition, generative AI deployment continues to grow alongside traditional workloads. As a result, developers are working with increasingly heterogeneous, dynamic and complex infrastructure strategies. This represents a massive challenge for technology professionals.
HashiCorp’s capabilities allow enterprises to use automation to deliver lifecycle management for infrastructure and security, providing a system of record for the critical workflows needed for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. HashiCorp’s offerings extend infrastructure provisioning in these environments, and help clients take a cloud-agnostic, interoperable approach to multi-cloud management. They also complement IBM’s commitment to industry collaboration (including deep and expanding partnerships with hyperscale cloud service providers), developer communities and open-source hybrid cloud and AI innovation.
“Our strategy at its core is about enabling companies to innovate in the cloud, while providing a consistent approach to managing cloud at scale. The need for effective management and automation is critical with the rise of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud, which is being accelerated by today’s AI revolution,” said Armon Dadgar, HashiCorp co-founder and CTO. “I’m incredibly excited by today’s news and to be joining IBM to accelerate HashiCorp’s mission and expand access to our products to an even broader set of developers and enterprises.”
“Today is an exciting day for our dedicated teams across the world as well as the developer communities we serve,” said Dave McJannet, HashiCorp CEO. “IBM’s leadership in hybrid cloud along with its rich history of innovation, make it the ideal home for HashiCorp as we enter the next phase of our growth journey. I’m proud of the work we’ve done as a standalone company, I am excited to be able to help our customers further, and I look forward to the future of HashiCorp as part of IBM.”
Both companies’ boards have both approved the transaction, which remains subject to HashiCorp shareholder and regulatory approvals, among other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2024.
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