San Francisco  - Business technology giant IBM has lowered its bid for server and software company Sun Microsystems by about 10 per cent in return for a guarantee that it will pursue the deal even in the face of regulatory challenges, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

According to the report, IBM now proposes paying 9 dollars to 10 dollars per share for Sun, compared to 10 dollars to 11 dollars per share when the negotiations were first reported some two weeks ago.

If the approximately 6-billion-dollar deal goes through it will be IBM's largest-ever acquisition, reflecting the determination of company CEO Sam Palmisano to take advantage of the recession to buy up undervalued companies. A combined IBM and Sun would control 43 per cent of the global server market, and help IBM boost sales of software. dpa