IBM buying Red Hat for $34B, expanding its cloud services

RALEIGH, N.C. — IBM says it will acquire North Carolina- based opensource software company Red Hat in a $34 billion stock deal.

The technology and consulting company announced Sunday it would buy all Red Hat shares at $190 apiece — 63 percent above Red Hat’s closing price Friday. The two companies said the deal is subject to Red Hat shareholder and regulatory ap- proval and should be completed in the latter half of 2019.

IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty says the acquisition would make IBM the world’s No. 1 hybrid cloud provider — that’s when companies use a mix of on-site, private and third-party public cloud services.

The two companies said IBM intends to keep Red Hat’s headquarters in Raleigh.