IBM has recently witnessed the signing of an agreement to sell the Weather Company and its assets to Francisco Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.
This transaction, set to close in April, encompasses the renowned mobile application “The Weather Channel” along with multiple online platforms like “Weather Channel,” “Weather.com,” “Weather Underground,” and “Storm Radar.”
Additionally, the deal includes the science, forecasting, and weather-related technology platform, along with data-centric services catering to broadcasting, media, aviation, and advertising industries.
As part of the deal, Francisco Partners aims to reshape parts of the Weather Company’s activities to be more consumer-oriented, while also planning to introduce novel tools relating to health and well-being for users.
Furthermore, IBM will retain access to weather data, which remains crucial for running its artificial intelligence models provided to corporate clients.
These AI models have been trained using data from NASA’s satellite systems and are designed to analyze environmental, social, corporate governance data, and climatic conditions, including natural disaster monitoring.
Despite IBM’s initial acquisition of the Weather Company in 2016 for $2 billion, the company began exploring selling options since April, in line with its strategy to streamline its operations and focus on core areas.
In this context, the company stated that the “Weather Unit” provides highly accurate weather data to both consumers and businesses, earning its place among the top 10 trusted brands in the United States, this unit serves an approximate monthly audience of 415 million individuals through its versatile digital assets.
Reports from last April estimated the value of the upcoming deal to exceed a billion dollars, this deal aligns with IBM’s strategic shift to concentrate on its core domains such as software, cloud services, and artificial intelligence.
Among the company’s significant bets is the “Watsonx” product, serving as a developmental tool for artificial intelligence tailored towards enterprises, through “Watsonx,” IBM aims to lead in creating user-friendly artificial intelligence solutions for businesses, addressing the growing demand and scarcity of AI expertise.
The product boasts features like intelligent code generation, a comprehensive AI governance toolkit, and a library housing thousands of AI models spanning language, geospatial data, IT events, and of course, weather data from the Weather Company that IBM will continue leveraging.
