For enterprise software businesses with a social spin, valuations are rising.
I.B.M. announced on Monday that it had agreed to acquire Kenexa, a maker of recruitment software, for $1.3 billion in cash. I.B.M. is paying Kenexa shareholders $46 a share, 42 percent above the closing stock price on Friday.
Kenexa is a Web-based service that is part of the so-called social business vertical. Its software is intended to help companies recruit and manage talent through online social networking, collaboration and consulting tools.
“Every company, across every business operation, is looking to tap into the power of social networking to transform the way they work, collaborate and out innovate their competitors,†Alistair Rennie, general manager of I.B.M.'s social business division said in a statement. “I.B.M. is uniquely positioned to help clients generate real returns from their social business investments, while helping them gain intelligence into the data being generated in these networks to be more competitive in their markets.â€
The transaction complements I.B.M.'s current suite of social business products, a group that includes social networking and instant messaging solutions. It comes on the heels of Microsoft‘s acquisition of Yammer in June.
The $1.2 billion deal for Yammer, the enterprise social network, was seen as a big push by Microsoft into the social enterprise market.
