So, after a brief life as Monday: PwC Consulting has been bought for 3.5 billion dollars (2.7 in cash, the rest in stock and convertible notes) by IBM. This is quite a come down for PwC from the proposed 18 billion dollar deal with HP that fell through in 2000.

I think that now is the time, if a company has the cash or stock valuation, to pick up some nice undervalued, or at least realistically valued, complementary products or companies. Sales are slow this year, with little sign of them picking up before next year. You might be able to convince a company's board, perhaps especially one that is VC funded and hasn't gone public yet, that half a loaf is better than none. Getting some money out now could be a better bet than pumping more in and hoping that things will turn around in the new year.

As to what it will all mean for the people who work for IBM and PwC I think the one safe bet it that there will be head count reductions, to use the business euphenism.