A Prediction: IBM and Microsoft

Roughly equal companies in terms of market cap — $220B — but with IBM’s enterprise value about $50B, I am predicting a merger of IBM and Microsoft with IBM leading the merged company, Ballmer retiring, and Microsoft being run — at least for a while — as a branded line of business in the twice as large, new IBM.

The fit of Microsoft’s enterprise solutions — Office, Exchange, Sharepoint, database, programming tools — with IBM’s corporate offerings is great. Also, IBM is the perfect partner to capitalize on the (eventual) migration away from Windows as a PC and server O/S.

As part of the deal, IBM would spin out various parts:

  • The gaming side — Kinect, Xbox — would be spun out as a standalone.
  • Phone software — spun out or sold off. Merged with Nokia?
  • Bing — a money-losing proposition, might be sold off.

We’ll see, but I think $25-50B could be saved in a merger, with all of that going to the bottom line for investors.

27 December 2011 22
microsoftibm

Notes

  1. aeg-oko-lavamat-72720 reblogged this from stoweboyd
  2. shany-cosmetics-gel-polish-diy reblogged this from stoweboyd
  3. gigi-epilating-wax-treatment reblogged this from stoweboyd
  4. cartucce-compatibili-epson reblogged this from stoweboyd
  5. was-hilft-bei-bluthochdruck reblogged this from stoweboyd
  6. legaltwo reblogged this from stoweboyd
  7. adrianmelrose reblogged this from stoweboyd and added:
    A bold prediction from
  8. ascratchpad reblogged this from stoweboyd
  9. digitalspark said: Probably too logical and emotional to happen in my opinion … but a good fit in alot of ways. Think Microsoft, though, has way more potential, even though we haven’t seen much in last decade.
  10. mehalchin reblogged this from stoweboyd and added:
    Interesting thoughts...work, but neither side NEEDS this deal, so unlikely
  11. stoweboyd posted this

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