VMWare To Acquire Stake In IT Firm Terremark

MIAMI (AP) — Technology company VMware Inc. will pay $20 million in stock to acquire a 5 percent stake in IT-infrastructure services firm Terremark Worldwide Inc.

Terremark said Tuesday that VMWare would buy 4 million shares of newly issued stock at $5 apiece.

Terremark Chairman and Chief Executive Manuel D. Medina said VMware's technology is used in his company's offerings. He called the investment a strong show of support from a strategic partner.

Miami-based Terremark runs Internet exchanges and offers services such as data storage and operating systems management. Its shares rose 33 cents, or 7.4 percent, to close at $4.80.

VMware, based in Palo Alto, Calif., makes "virtualization" software that helps companies reduce costs by running many applications on a single server and move the applications among servers. VMware shares gained 76 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $29.26 in the regular session, and lost 8 cents after hours.