IBM has closed its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat, which has a base in Waterford.
IBM won approval for the purchase from U.S. regulators in May and European Union regulators in late June.
The company agreed to pay 190 dollars a share for Red Hat, representing a 63 percent premium.
It's the company’s biggest acquisition in its more than 100-year history and represents IBM's move toward faster-growing segments such as cloud, software and services, and away from traditional hardware products.
Red Hat's Waterford office was established in 2014 following its acquisition of the cloud-based mobile software company, FeedHenry.
Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst told CNBC that Red Hat will exist as a separate business unit within IBM
"The diversity of the two perspectives, cultures and backgrounds actually allows us to do more than we could do otherwise.
"We both have strong cultures that have helped us both be successful.
"We really think those can work together and we can celebrate the benefits of both and how we can best work together going forward."
