International Business Machines Corp. is nearing a deal to acquire the digital and data assets of Weather Co., owner of the Weather Channel, according to people familiar with the situation.

The deal, which would be valued at more than $2 billion, could be announced as early as Wednesday, one of the people said.

The deal doesn't include the traditional TV channel business but does include such digital businesses as the website and app, intellectual property, infrastructure and data, the people said.

IBM is particularly interested in Weather Co.'s wonky forecasting group, WSI. That division houses technology and weather data that the Weather Co. collects, manipulates and licenses to companies ranging from airlines to utility companies to insurance providers.

Weather Co. is owned by a consortium that includes private-equity firms Bain Capital LLC and Blackstone Group LP, and Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal. They bought the company in 2008 for roughly $3.5 billion.

Write to Suzanne Vranica at suzanne.vranica@wsj.com and Robert McMillan at Robert.Mcmillan@wsj.com

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2015 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

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