IBM is buying Sweden's Telelogic for $747m, further boosting the Rational business it bought five years ago.

The software company, based in Malmo in the South of Sweden, primarily serves the aerospace and defense, telecommunications, and automotive industries.

IBM says the buy will allow it to refocus on complex systems development. Telelogic, which sells lifecycle management technology, has over 1,000 customers, including General Electric.

The company will be incorporated into IBM's Rational Software division, which IBM acquired in 2002 for $2.1bn, the second largest software acquisition in Big Blue's history. Telelogic already has its US headquarters in Irvine, California.

Together, Telelogic and IBM will be able to expand and accelerate their customers' ability to define, model, build, test, deliver, and govern the development of complex systems with higher quality and faster time to market, the companies said today. ®