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One of Central Ohio’s largest technology companies will have a new owner.

IBM Corp. has agreed to acquire Columbus-based Sterling Commerce Inc. in a $1.4 billion deal, the technology giant disclosed Monday.

Columbus Business First reported earlier this month that Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM was a likely suitor to buy Sterling from Dallas-based AT&T Inc. Sterling Commerce is a software and business-to-business technology company employing about 700 workers in Central Ohio.

IBM spokeswoman Nancy Kaplan said there will be no job cuts tied to the acquisition.

“The idea is not only to get the intellectual property, but also to get the smart people that know the products,” she said.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The deal lets IBM expand its ability to help clients create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating communications, according to a release from the company.

“The broad global reach and additional capabilities IBM offers make this acquisition great news for our customers and partners,” Sterling Commerce CEO Bob Irwin said in the release payday loans no faxing. “The combination of IBM’s products, services and skills with the Sterling Commerce (business-to-business) integration and cross-channel capabilities resulting from this acquisition is unparalleled.”

IBM will become the third corporation to take over the 35-year-old Columbus business. AT&T had inherited Sterling Commerce as part of its 2005 merger with San Antonio-based SBC Communications Inc., which had purchased Sterling five years earlier.

Sterling Commerce specializes in selling and hosting technology that helps companies manage customer orders and logistics. The company employs nearly 700 workers at its headquarters on Lakehurst Court, making it one of the 100 largest employers in Central Ohio, according to Business First research. The company employs nearly 2,500 workers at operations in 32 offices, many of them overseas.

The Sterling Commerce client list is a who’s who of blue-chip companies, including Borders Group Inc., Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. and Target Corp.

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