RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – IBM says it’s selling most of its Weather Company assets to private equity firm Francisco Partners.

Financial details were not disclosed.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) bought the weather-focused business in 2016 for $2 billion.

“Over the last few years, we’ve evolved IBM to be a hybrid cloud and AI company. We regularly review our portfolio to make sure our business areas are core to that strategy, and today’s news reflects our continued focus on these two transformational technologies,” said Rob Thomas, IBM’s senior vice president, software and chief commercial officer.

Its cloud efforts include Raleigh-based Red Hat.

Earlier Tuesday, IBM chair and CEO Arvind Kirshna told CNBC about his plans to focus more on AI – and the transition he expects to see in IBM’s workforce.

IBM CEO warns: First jobs lost to AI will be ‘white collar’

Francisco Partners will acquire:

  • The Weather Company’s digital consumer-facing offerings
  • The Weather Channel mobile and cloud-based digital properties including Weather.com, Weather Underground and Storm Radar
  • The Weather Channel enterprise offerings for broadcast, media, aviation, advertising technology and data solutions for other emerging industries.
  • The Weather Company forecasting science and technology platform

IBM keeps the sustainability software business, including its Environmental Intelligence Suite (EIS) to “help clients curate, measure, report and operationalize ESG data to inform decision making, improve performance and meet regulatory requirements,” the tech giant said.

Big Blue also says it will continue to utilize Weather Company data such as EIS in formation.

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“We’re proud of what The Weather Company team has accomplished with IBM, and we are confident that the best path forward is as a standalone company benefiting from Francisco Partners’ expanded investment, dedication and expertise. We’re excited to see the next phase of The Weather Company’s journey,” said Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President, Software and Chief Commercial Officer, IBM. “Over the last few years, we’ve evolved IBM to be a hybrid cloud and AI company. We regularly review our portfolio to make sure our business areas are core to that strategy, and today’s news reflects our continued focus on these two transformational technologies.”

Since its launch over 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has invested in over 400 technology companies, making it one of the most active and long-standing investors in the technology industry. Francisco Partners’ investments have focused on companies that provide the best possible products and service for its customers and partners. Francisco Partners also has extensive experience partnering with corporations to execute divisional carve-outs with transactions such as Dell Inc.’s Dell Software business and Discovery Inc.’s Discovery Education business.