IBM announced it has signed a definitive agreement with Tarian Software to acquire all assets of the company. Tarian is a privately held provider of e-Records management software based in Ottawa, Canada. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, 2002. Financial details were not disclosed. The acquisition is meant to strengthen IBM’s Enterprise Content Management offering, a fast-growing segment of its Data Management portfolio and a “key strategic priority for the company”. Once the acquisition is completed, IBM plans to: Integrate Tarian business operations and personnel into the Data Management Software group; Market and sell Tarian technology worldwide through an integrated IBM and Tarian sales force; and leverage Tarian technology across the entire IBM software portfolio – including IBM Content Manager, DB2 database and Lotus software. www.software.ibm.com/data