The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a merger inquiry in late December to determine whether the deal would result in a “substantial lessening of competition”.
The CMA wants relevant stakeholder views about potential competition issues. Interested parties have until January 16 to comment, and a decision on the initial investigation is expected by February 25.
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IBM announced its intent to acquire HashiCorp last April in a $6.4 billion deal that would integrate its hybrid and multi-cloud lifecycle management software solutions into IBM platforms.
IBM had anticipated the transaction would close by the end of 2024, but the CMA’s probe into the deal further underscores its growing scrutiny of major tech mergers, including those involving Microsoft and OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, and Vodafone/Three.
Based in San Francisco, California, HashiCorp’s cloud software services are used by customers including Vodafone, Starbucks, and Deutsche Bank.
In its April 2024 announcement of the HashiCorp acquisition, IBM described the firm as enhancing its “commitment to industry collaboration, including deep and expanding partnerships with hyperscale cloud service providers, developer communities, and open-source hybrid cloud and AI innovation”.
Capacity has contacted both IBM and HashiCorp for comment.
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