International Business Machines Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire software company HashiCorp Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
IBM and HashiCorp could reach an agreement as soon as Wednesday, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Bloomberg News reported in March that San Francisco-based HashiCorp had been considering a sale. A final agreement hasn’t been reached and talks could still end without one, the people said.
A representative for IBM declined to comment. A spokesperson for HashiCorp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Tuesday that IBM and HashiCorp were in talks.
HashiCorp’s software helps companies in a range of industries set up their digital infrastructure in the cloud, which can lower costs and speed up the time it takes them to bring products to market. The company’s shares have fallen 10% over the last 12 months through Monday’s close, giving it a market value of almost $5 billion.
Shares in Armonk, New York-based IBM have risen 45% over the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of about $167 billion. IBM is set to release first quarter earnings for 2024 on Wednesday.
IBM has announced more than 10 acquisitions in the past year, including its $4.6 billion takeover of software company Apptio and purchase of data-integration platforms StreamSets and WebMethods for €2.13 billion ($2.3 billion). Its biggest buy to date remains its $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat 2019.