International Business Machines Corporation IBM recently declared that it has acquired leading medical imaging company, Merge Healthcare Inc. for about $1 billion. The acquisition is aimed at adding more capabilities to its growing Watson Health business unit. Watson Health is founded on the basis of IBM’s artificial intelligence computer system, Watson. Per the deal, shareholders of Merge will get approximately $7.13 a share in cash.
IBM expects this acquisition to add value for its Watson clients, allowing them to leverage the strengths of the two entities. While Merge Healthcare is well known for its radiology and imaging services, Watson has developed a range of innovative solutions in the field of health care analytics. A rich database comprising results from lab and genomic tests, electronic health records and even clinical studies are the chief resources for IBM.
The deal will enable IBM’s clients to compare the images with patient’s medical history as well as with data of other patients to provide a more comprehensive insight regarding the diagnosis. This would not only result in more personalized treatment for the patients but will also advance the research process for some critical diseases.
This apart, Merge Healthcare, which already has collaborations with a large number of health care sites, pharmaceutical firms and clinical research institutes can now also open more avenues for the further expansion of Watson’s offerings.
Watson comes under IBM’s $17 billion analytics business. In less than a year, IBM’s Watson Analytics has gained much popularity and has been embraced by over 0.5 million professionals. IBM has also been taking a number of initiatives to expand the offerings and make the system more user-friendly allowing them to get the benefits of data visualization and predictive analytics using natural language processing with ease. Recently, Watson added features like data discovery and question-and-answer capabilities that greatly enhanced Watson Analytics.
IBM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader tech space are Top Image Systems Ltd. TISA, Mentor Graphics Corp. MENT and Progress Software Corporation PRGS. All three have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment