IBM Buys Two Danish Services Firms

IBM said Tuesday it has acquired a pair of Danish IT services firms as part of its effort to broaden its presence in Scandinavia. As a result of the moves, IBM will add about 3,700 IT staffers to its global head count. Financial terms of the deals, which require the approval of European regulatory authorities, were not disclosed.

IBM will acquire Maersk Data A/S, the IT services unit of shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moeller-Maersk Group. In addition to giving it greater reach in the Nordic geographies, the acquisition will also give IBM Global Services greater competence in IT services related to transportation and logistics, an IBM spokesman based in Denmark says.

In a related deal, IBM is also acquiring Dmdata, an IT services firm jointly owned by Maersk Data, Copenhagen's Danske Bank, and WM-Data of Sweden.