CHICAGO: Technology giant IBM today said it will acquire Initiate Systems, a company that makes software for sharing data among healthcare and government organisations.

IBM, which has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Initiate, expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2010 after the customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

IBM intends to integrate the Initiate organisation with its information management business after the closing.

"With the addition of Initiate's software and its industry expertise, IBM will offer clients a comprehensive solution for delivering the information they need to improve the well-being of patients at a lower cost," IBM Information Management general manager Arvind Krishna said in a statement.

Initiate's president and CEO Bill Conroy said his company, which has worked with IBM for about five years, found itself getting an increasing number of requests for medical records and electronic medical records globally, including from China, India and Mexico.

Initiate's software helps healthcare clients work more efficiently with timely access to patient and clinical data besides enabling governments to share information across multiple agencies, he said, adding that Initiate Systems would complement IBM?s health-care portfolio.