IBM Said to Have Pursued Informatica Ahead of Salesforce Deal

International Business Machines Corp. pursued Informatica Inc. before Salesforce Inc. boughtthe software company for $8 billion last month, according to people familiar with the matter.

IBM had held takeover talks in recent months with Informatica, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

A representative for IBM declined to comment. A representative for Informatica didn’t respond to requests comment.

IBM’s interest underscores the competitive process for Informatica, which had also drawn looks from suitors including Cloud Software Group, Bloomberg News has reported.

“We were lucky to be the winning bid,” Salesforce Chief Executive Officer ...