NEW YORK, USA: IBM Corp agreed to buy Kenexa Corp for about $1.3 billion, further consolidating the human resource management software market after Oracle Corp and SAP AG bought out Kenexa's rivals in the past year.
The deal underpins the importance large technology companies place on niche, web-based software makers, and these acquisitions are expected to plug holes in their own product offerings.
Germany's SAP bought Kenexa's competitor SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion cash in December, while Oracle bought rival Taleo Corp for about $1.9 billion in February.