MARKHAM, Ontario, July 16 (UPI) -- IBM Corp. said Monday it would pay $162.3 million for a Canadian data handling company whose customers range from Tiffany & Co. to Union Pacific Railroad.
The $25.86-a-share price IBM said it would pay for DataMirror Corp. is 19.4 percent higher than the suburban Toronto's average trading price on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the past 20 days.
DataMirror's Transformation Server software identifies and captures data that has been added, updated or deleted, and it enables the changed information to be delivered at the actual moment when the change has been made, IBM said.
Being able to note data changes as they occur and respond accordingly is increasingly vital for many businesses, from retailers to dynamic-warehouse operators, IBM said.
The DataMirror sale, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to close by September, IBM said.
DataMirror, a 14-year-old Markham, Ontario, company, earned $1.9 million in its latest quarter on $12.6 million in revenue, up 22 percent from a year earlier.
It will become part of IBM's Information Management Software unit, the Armonk, N.Y., company said. IBM hopes to keep its 220 staff members and 2,200 customers, including Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and Federal Express Corp., the company said.
