IBM to buy Algorithmics for $387 m

It is the latest acquisition in the data analysis sector. Last month, Hewlett Packard agreed to pay $11.7 billion for Autonomy, a British company that searches and keeps track of corporate and government information.

IBM has been particularly active in the area, making $14 billion worth of acquisitions in the last five years.

In 2009, the company paid $1.2 billion for SPSS, which makes statistical software. The same year it also bought Ounce, whose software allows companies to assess risks in their programming code.

With Algorithmics, IBM is pushing further into financial services. The company’s client list includes 25 of the top 30 banks, among them HSBC, Nomura and Societe Generale.