IBM to Acquire Consul

IBM has entered into an agreement to acquire Consul risk management, Inc., a privately-held software company headquartered in Delft, Netherlands with a principal office in Herndon, Virginia. Consul will become part of IBM's Tivoli software unit.  Consul's security administration capabilities for the mainframe and user activity monitoring, audit and reporting across platforms, complement IBM's existing portfolio of security management solutions.

Security is a primary concern of IT administrators facing threats from sources outside and within the enterprise and challenged to comply with government and industry regulatory requirements.  As indicated in Updata Capital's most recent IT Security M&A Update, the need for security compliance is driving acquisitions of pure-play security companies by both strategic and financial buyers.  Record M&A activity is accelerating security’s incorporation into storage, network management and other infrastructure areas with announced deal volume in 2006 year-to-date exceeding $5.7 billion (according to Updata’s deal database), an increase of 30 percent voer 2005 volume. 

Updata Capital initiated the transaction, acted as financial advisor and assisted in the negotiations for Consul in its acquisition by IBM.