IBM's $34b Red Hat Deal Is Risky Bid To Boost Cloud Business

IBM’s plan to buy Red Hat is both the biggest acquisition in IBM’s century-long history and a risky effort to position itself as a major player in cloud computing.

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The $34 billion stock deal translates to $190 per Red Hat share — a 63 percent premium to the closing price Friday for the Raleigh, North Carolina, company. Red Hat Inc.’s stock soared about 45 percent in trading Monday.

The path for revitalization for IBM may be found in cloud technology, a driving force behind the blockbuster deal for Red Hat over the weekend.

“It’s a big bet but ultimately they’re in a situation where they needed to make a significant acquisition to move them potentially forward,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said.