IBM to sell Watson Marketing, commerce solutions to Centerbridge Partners

IBM announced Thursday that it has come to an agreement with New York City-based private equity firm, Centerbridge Partners, in which the firm will acquire the remainder of IBM’s marketing and commerce software solutions, including those in the Watson Marketing portfolio and those that came out of the Silverpop acquisition.

Why you should care

Centerbridge intends to form a standalone company that will deliver marketing automation tools, customer experience analytics, AI-powered content management system, personalized search and more.

“IBM plans to work with Centerbridge on cloud and AI to help our customers continue to transform in this new era of technology,” said IBM General Manager Inhi Cho Suh, in a statement, “and we hope to find additional ways to continue collaborating for the longer term.”

The new company will offer marketing automation tools, marketing analytics, an AI-powered content management system and an open ecosystem connector along with services.

The sale — among other recent transactions — is indicative of IBM’s shift to refocus on its core business offerings, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud. With the marketing capabilities breaking out from under IBM’s expansive umbrella, clients could find they receive more personalized attention and solutions from the yet-to-be-named new entity.

More on the news

• IBM executives will lead the new company, with Mark Simpson as CEO. Simpson currently serves as vice president for IBM Marketing Platform and Commerce.  The new company will move its headquarters to New York City.
• IBM marketing and commerce solutions include Campaign Automation, Marketing Assistant, Media Optimizer, Customer Experience Analytics, Content Hub, Real-Time Personalization, Personalized Search, Universal Behavior Exchange, Intelligent Bidder, Price & Promotion Optimization and Payments Gateway.
• Centerbridge plans to establish a board of directors with deep marketing solution experience.

About The Author

Jennifer Cannon

Jennifer Videtta Cannon serves as Third Door Media's Senior Editor, covering topics from email marketing and analytics to CRM and project management. With over a decade of organizational digital marketing experience, she has overseen digital marketing operations for NHL franchises and held roles at tech companies including Salesforce, advising enterprise marketers on maximizing their martech capabilities. Jennifer formerly organized the Inbound Marketing Summit and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing Analytics from MIT Sloan School of Management.