Nvidia to Acquire Arm in $40 Billion Chip Mega-Deal

Nvidia announced that it plans to acquire British chip designer Arm in a $40 billion mega deal that CEO Jensen Huang said will turn Nvidia into the "world’s premier computing company." By acquiring Arm, Nvidia would have the underlying technologies for the GPU, CPU and network in the data center and beyond, allowing the chipmaker to more tightly integrate those technologies. It expands upon what Nvidia has already started to do with its $8 billion acquisition of interconnect vendor Mellanox Technologies from earlier this year, according to one Nvidia partner who spoke to CRN last month.

Microsoft Buying Zenimax Media for $7.5 Billion

Microsoft has agreed to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Doom and Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks, for $7.5 billion in cash. The acquisition follows earlier Bethesda games coming to Xbox Game Pass on console and PC, and it gives Microsoft control of upcoming games like the space epic Starfield. Microsoft says future Bethesda games, including Starfield, will launch on Xbox Game Pass the day they come to Xbox or PC.

Ericson Paying $1.1 Billion for Cradlepoint

Just as the 5G era was kicking off in the United States, Cradlepoint established itself as a leading enterprise solution provider for the latest cellular technology, partnering with Verizon on enterprise 5G broadband services and AT&T on 5G-upgradeable mobile units for first responders and businesses. Ericsson announced that it’s acquiring Cradlepoint for $1.1 billion, giving the European network gear maker another asset as it widens its U.S. footprint.

Pure Storage Pays $370 Million for Portworx

All-flash storage pioneer Pure Storage is paying $370 million to acquire Portworx and combine that company’s Kubernetes Data Services Platform with its own data platform and orchestration software to offer a comprehensive suite of in-cloud, bare metal or array data services natively orchestrated in Kubernetes.

Progress Software to Acquire DevOps Company Chef in $220 Million Deal

Progress Software has struck a deal to acquire DevOps technology pioneer Chef Software for $220 million in cash. Progress, a provider of application development and digital experience software, said the acquisition will expand the company’s technology portfolio and allow it to offer "complete infrastructure automation to build, deploy, manage and secure applications" in modern multi-cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments.

CrowdStrike to Buy Identity Startup Preempt Security for $96M

CrowdStrike has agreed to purchase access control and threat prevention startup Preempt Security to help keep organizations’ users, endpoints and data safe from modern attacks. Preempt was founded in 2014, employs 71 people and has raised $27.5 million in three rounds of outside funding. The company’s technology continuously detects and preempts threats based on identity, behavior and risk, CrowdStrike said, empowering enterprises to optimize identity hygiene and stop attackers and insider threats in real-time before they can impact business.

Computacenter Pays $80 Million for Pivot

Computacenter, the London-based IT solution provider, is looking to expand its U.S. business in a big way with its planned acquisition of Pivot Technology Solutions. The company plans to acquire Toronto-based Pivot Technology Solutions in an all-cash offer of approximately $80 million. The deal is Computacenter’s first significant push for an increased share of the U.S. IT market since its late 2018 blockbuster acquisition of San Francisco-based FusionStorm.

VMware Acquires SaltStack

VMware unveiled plans to acquire software automation specialist SaltStack in a move to boost its vRealize Suite of products and address all customer automation needs both on-premises and in the cloud. SaltStack develops software used by IT and security operations teams to help businesses more efficiently secure and maintain all aspects of their digital infrastructure.

Accenture Buying N3 to Augment Clients’ Sales Capabilities

Global solution provider Accenture plans to acquire N3, a provider of technology that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, as a way to help its clients increase their business-to-business sales efficiencies. The acquisition of Atlanta-based N3 will allow Accenture to provide its clients with a scalable, tech-enabled, and cost-efficient way to sell products into their B2B environments, said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of operations services at Dublin, Ireland-based Accenture.

Cognizant Acquires 10th Magnitude

Systems integrator Cognizant has acquired fast-growing Microsoft partner 10th Magnitude as a part of an Azure sales blitz anchored by a new Microsoft business group. The deal teams 10th Magnitude’s talented Microsoft Azure team with New Signature, another top-notch Microsoft solution provider that Cognizant acquired just last month. 10th Magnitude — a Microsoft Gold partner with 150 employees — is one of just 70 certified Azure Expert Managed Service providers worldwide.

Digital Realty’s Interxion Acquires Altus IT Data Centers

Data center colocation standout Interxion, which was acquired by Digital Realty this year for a massive $8.4 billion, has acquired fellow data center provider Altus IT in a move to establish a presence in Croatia and gain access to more than 100 customers in the region.

ThreatConnect Buys Risk Quantification Firm Nehemiah Security

ThreatConnect has purchased Nehemiah Security to help companies better measure the degree to which specific security investments reduce an organization’s risk profile. The Arlington, Va.-based cybersecurity vendor said its acquisition of Tysons, Va.-based Nehemiah Security will allow practitioners to move away from KPIs like number of security events when reporting to the board and instead provide meaningful business metrics that deliver insight into how well a security organization is actually operating, according to ThreatConnect CEO Adam Vincent.

Check Point to Buy Secure Remote Access Startup Odo Security

Check Point Software Technologies has agreed to purchase cybersecurity startup Odo Security to help enterprises enable secure remote access for employees to any application. The San Carlos, Calif.-based platform security vendor said Tel Aviv, Israel-based Odo has developed a cloud-based, clientless secure access service edge (SASE) technology that secures remote access. The deal will make working from home easier and safer by enabling organizations to securely connect any number of remote employees to everything from any location, according to Check Point.

AHEAD to Acquire RoundTower and Kovarus

AHEAD, a solution provider focused on digital transformation services and one of Dell Technologies’ largest channel partners, is buying two other solution providers, RoundTower Technologies and Kovarus, in a move it expects to give it national reach and bring more services opportunities to customers. Once the two acquisitions close, the result will be a nationwide solution provider with over 1,000 employees and over $2.1 billion in revenue, said Stephen Ayoub, president of the Chicago-based company.

Secureworks to Buy Vulnerability Management Provider Delve

Secureworks has agreed to purchase vulnerability scanning and prioritization firm Delve Laboratories to extend its threat detection and response capabilities with new integrations and analytics. The Atlanta-based cybersecurity company said its proposed acquisition of New York- and Montreal-based Delve will provide customers with more accurate and actionable data about the highest-risk vulnerabilities across their network, endpoints and cloud.