IBM has announced that it is acquiring marketing software company Unica for about $480 million in cash. IBM says the Unica will expand its ability to help organizations analyze and predict customer preferences and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.

"IBM understands the demands on today’s organizations to transform core business processes in functions such as marketing with intelligence and automation," says IBM Industry Solutions General Manager Craig Hayman. "Unica was a clear choice for IBM based on its power to automate a broad set of marketing capabilities and its established reputation for delivering customer success in marketing to organizations around the world." 

Unica counts some big names among its customers, including: Disney, Best Buy, Ford Motor Company, Dow Jones, Coca Cola, General Motors, Nissan, the NFL, Verizon, and quite a few others. The full list is here.

"Unica’s focus is to help our customers deliver marketing messages so relevant that they are perceived as a service to our clients’ customers," said Yuchun Lee, CEO, Unica Corp.  "Together with IBM, we will bring our leading enterprise marketing management solutions to a wider set of customers worldwide and with a much broader, more comprehensive portfolio."

The acquisition is subject to Unica shareholder and regulatory approval.