AP: IBM withdraws $7 billion bid for Sun Microsystems

BOSTON -- IBM has withdrawn its offer to buy Sun Microsystems for about $7 billion, The Associated Press has learned.

A person familiar with the talks said IBM took its deal off the table this weekend after Sun terminated IBM's status as its exclusive negotiating partner. This person was not authorized to disclose the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The talks had been in their final stages after a long period of due diligence. The breakup of the negotiations was first reported Sunday by The Wall Street Journal.

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IBM was believed to be offering about $9.50 per share for Sun. That was about double the price the Santa Clara, Calif.-based server and software maker was trading for when the discussions leaked last month.