IBM to acquire analytics firm Coremetrics

IBM said that it has agreed to purchase web analytics firm Coremetrics.

The company said that the deal will allow for the addition of new intelligence and analysis tools to the IBM business analytics line.

California-based Coremetrics specialises in tools and services used to gather and analyse customer feedback and social networking data. The service is often used in connection with marketing campaigns.

IBM said that it plans to integrate the company into its application and integration middleware group and offer the tools as part of its business analytics platform.

"'With this acquisition, we are extending our capabilities to give clients greater insight about customer behaviour and sentiment about products and services, and give true foresight into their future buying patterns," said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM WebSphere.

"Marketing departments can benefit from these capabilities very quickly because we are delivering this in a Software-as-a-Service model.

IBM said that the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Because Coremetrics is a privately-held company IBM said that it will not be releasing financial terms of the deal.