San Francisco, March 4 (Reuters): International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), the world’s largest technology services company, said on Friday it plans this year to keep up the “accelerated” pace of acquisitions set in 2006, when it spent almost $5 billion on 13 companies.

The company, in an article on its Web site, did not name potential targets or give details of its acquisition plans, but last year’s purchases were focused on software companies, an area in which IBM plans further growth.

IBM said revenue from the companies it acquired in 2006 rose 50 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, before they were acquired.

“Given IBM’s track record, it plans to continue the accelerated pace of acquisitions in 2007, depending on valuations,” IBM, based in Armonk, New York, said in the article.

, which was also filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

IBM's acquisitions last year included FileNet Corp, for which it paid $1.6 billion; Internet Security Systems Inc ($1.4 billion); Micromuse ($900 million) and MRO Software Inc ($740 million).