IBM to Buy Tealeaf Technology for Online Shopping Software

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) agreed to buy Tealeaf Technology Inc., gaining software that helps marketing executives analyze online buying data and respond faster to trends.

Closely held Tealeaf, located in San Francisco, provides real-time insights about Internet spending on mobile and desktop devices, IBM said today in a statement. IBM, based in Armonk, New York, didn’t disclose terms of the acquisition.

The world’s largest computer-services provider expects software to deliver half of its earnings in 2015, driven in part by its Smarter Commerce initiative. IBM has made more than $3 billion in acquisitions, including Unica Corp. and DemandTec Inc., to add software tools that help businesses uncover trends, improve online transactions and better deploy their employees.

Tealeaf’s technology spots patterns where online promotions and transactions work and fail, helping businesses capture customer data and deliver “optimal experiences,” Rebecca Ward, its chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Tealeaf was founded in 1999 and spun off from SAP AG (SAP), the biggest maker of business management software. It has more than 450 customers worldwide in financial services, travel, retail and communications services, including Dell Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Zappos.com Inc. and Best Buy Co.

Tealeaf is backed by venture-capital firms including Foundation Capital, Matrix Partners, and Bay Partners.

IBM rose less than 1 percent to $208.13 at 1:03 p.m. New York time.

To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net