Red Hat shareholders voted to approve the acquisition by IBM, bringing it closer to closing in the second half of 2019.
In late 2018, IBM announced plans to buy Red Hat, a provider of open source cloud software, in a $34-billion acquisition, that will enable IBM to take a greater role in the fast-growing hybrid cloud market.
Commenting on the vote, Steve Robinson, GM of Red Hat Synergy, IBM, said:
“Together, IBM and Red Hat will be strongly positioned to lead in hybrid cloud, addressing growing demand for companies to securely move their business applications to an open, multi-cloud environment. The approval by Red Hat shareholders for IBM to acquire Red Hat is an important step in the closing process for this acquisition, which we continue to expect will close in the second half of 2019.”
Upon closing of the acquisition, Red Hat will become a distinct unit within IBM's Hybrid Cloud organization. Red Hat will continue to be led by its current management team, including CEO Jim Whitehurst, who will also join IBM's senior management team and report to Ginni Rometty. IBM said it intends to maintain Red Hat's headquarters, facilities, brands and practices.
IBM's and Red Hat's partnership has spanned 20 years, with IBM serving as an early supporter of Linux, collaborating with Red Hat to help develop and grow enterprise-grade Linux and more recently to bring enterprise Kubernetes and hybrid cloud solutions to customers. These innovations have become core technologies within IBM's $19 billion hybrid cloud business.
For more information, visit www.ibm.com.