August 27, 2012
By Judith Aquino,

IBM to Buy Kenexa for $1.3 Billion

IBM announced today that it will acquire Kenexa, a provider of recruiting and talent management solutions, for approximately $1.3 billion. The acquisition bolsters IBM's social business capabilities and enables customers to gain greater insights from social networks.

Based in Wayne, Pa., Kenexa offers a combination of cloud-based technology and consulting services that provide employment and retention solutions. Its Kenexa Social Solutions includes a candidate relationship management tool that focuses on social recruiting and building candidate relationships via social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, social career centers to enable candidates to interact with a company's career center as they search and apply for jobs, as well as consulting and management services.

"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," said Alistair Rennie, general manager of social business at IBM, in a statement.

According to Forrester Research, the market opportunity for social enterprise apps is expected to grow at a rate of 61 percent through 2016. "Together, Kenexa and IBM will [offer] solutions that extend from strategy to the technology platform to the delivery of services for clients," added Kenexa CEO Rudy Karsan.

Kenexa has approximately 2,800 employees and supports more than 8,900 customers across a variety of industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail, and consumer, including more than half of the Fortune 500 companies.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.