Analysing the number of acquisitions made every year by IBM, the origin of acquired companies, type of business it belongs to.
IBM made the most number of acquisitions in 2010. In May 2010, CEO Sam Palmisano said IBM would spend about $20 billion on acquisitions during the next five years. The biggest acquisition in 2010 was data warehouse appliance vendor Netezza for $1.7 billion and Sterling Commerce, a developer of supply chain and business collaboration applications, for $1.4 billion. Other acquisitions were in online marketing software, including Unica ($480 million) and Coremetrics, and in financial governance and compliance, including Clarity Systems and OpenPages. IBM's acquisitions are proof that it intends to compete across a broad range of areas.
IBM's acquisitions in USA are 71.67% of the total acquistions. This could be because IBM is based in USA and the country is a world leader in technology, innovation. In Asia based company acquisitions, 50% are from Israel and 30% from India. Germany and UK are tied in the top place for acquisitions made in Europe.
Most acquisitions belong to IT services and software but there is a great deal of diversity in acquisitions made (153 types of businesses). Acquisitions made the most during the start of each fiscal quarter