IBM (IBM) said it would buy Truven Health Analytics, a provider of cloud-based health care data, for $2.6 billion, the company’s fourth major health-related acquisition since launching the Watson Health unit in April last year.
Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Truven offers health care data and analytics solutions to U.S. federal and state government agencies, employers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.
IBM, whose health care unit is powered by the famous Watson supercomputer, will get access to more than 8,500 clients from the deal.
“With this acquisition, IBM will be the world’s leading health data, analytics and insights company,” Deborah DiSanzo, general manager for Watson Health said in a statement on Thursday.
IBM, which has been expanding aggressively in the health care IT sector, bought medical image company Merge Healthcare in a $1 billion deal in October.
In March, Reuters reported that Truven was preparing for an initial public offering it hoped would value the company at more than $3 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.