Monday, April 20, 2009
Oracle-Sun: Whither MySQL?
As investors and analysts digest this morning’s Oracle-Sun news, some are wondering what will happen to Sun-owned MySQL, and whether combining the Oracle and MySQL database businesses would represent an antitrust concern.
Oracle To Buy Sun Microsystems for $9.50/Shr In Cash
In a stunning turn of events, Oracle this morning announced perhaps its most aggressive acquisition yet, agreeing to acquire Sun Microsystems for $9.50 a share in cash, or $7.4 billion. Net of balance sheet cash and debt, the deal is worth $5.6 billion. The news follows the reported recent collapse of talks between IBM and Sun.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Oracle Shopping List: SaaS, Virtualization, Health Care
Yesterday’s rumors about a potential acquisition by Oracle of Red Hat have apparently faded, but Larry Ellison’s appetite for doing deals is never sated. Whether or not Oracle decides to take a run at Red Hat, it is not going out on a limb to suggest that at some point Ellison is going to get the itch and make more acquisitions.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Whoa! A Tech Acquisition!
The first high-profile tech acquisition in months took place Thursday, but don’t take that as a harbinger of more deals.
Autonomy, a U.K. company that makes software that businesses use to track corporate information, acquired Interwoven, a San Jose, Calif., document-management company, for $775 million in cash. Autonomy will sell some stock and tap a new line of credit in order to finance the deal.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
SanDisk Shares Plunge as Samsung Withdraws Takeover Bid
After six months of negotiation, Samsung has withdrawn its bid to acquire SanDisk at $26 a share. Samsung CEO Yoon Woon Lee expressed his “disappointment” and cited multiple reasons why the deal wouldn’t work–including a surprise announcement by SanDisk of a quarter-billion dollar operating loss. SanDisk, for its part, replied that it never got a reply to a letter rejecting Samsung’s bid as too low at $26 a share. All sound familiar?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
ON, Microchip, Jointly Offer $5 Per Share to Buy Atmel; Shares of Both Suitors Tumble; Atmel Set to Soar
Microchip (MCHP) and ON Semiconductor (ONNN) made a joint unsolicited bid to acquire Atmel (ATML) today for $5 a share in cash. The deal values Atmel at $2.3 billion.
In a letter to Atmel yesterday–which was released today by Microchip and ON Semi–the two companies says they were “deeply disappointed” that Atmel’s board “appears unwilling to consider a transaction at this time, under any circumstances.”
Friday, July 25, 2008
SiRF: Another Rough Quarter Sends Stock Tumbling
GPS chipmaker SiRF Technology Holdings (SIRF) is taking a bath following another rough quarter.
For Q2, revenue totaled $63.1 million, which was actually above the consensus of $62.1 million. But the company posted a non-GAAP loss of 19 cents a share, worse than the 13-cent loss the Street had expected.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
What’s Up With Extreme Networks?
Is something going on with Extreme Networks (EXTR)?
The networking hardware company’s shares today have jumped 18 cents, or 5.9%, to $3.25; volume totals 2.56 million shares, about triple the daily average.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Yahoo: Q1 Fine, Here’s Our Awesome Plan!
Yahoo dispelled concerns that Q1 will be a disaster and released details of its last, best hope to stave off a Microsoft acquisition: its own growth plan.
The plan calls for revenue and cash flow acceleration in 2009 and 2010 (after a retrenchment in 2008). It also provides support for Yahoo’s argument that it’s worth at least $40 a share.
We think the plan is more of a “best case” scenario than a “most likely” case, but at least we now have concrete assumptions on which to evaluate Yahoo’s evaluation of itself.
Has Google Topper Eric Schmidt Lost His Mind?
Or is the Google CEO crazy like a fox? He certainly has been talking some crazy smack lately about Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Yahoo, as in [his] recent exchange in Portfolio, in which he suggests that a Microsoft/Yahoo combo might “break the Internet.”
Friday, February 15, 2008
LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More Than a Song
Troubled video site Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse last night for a price “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million reported recently, according to a source close to the deal. Our source would not disclose the selling price, but said “I wouldn’t say anyone got rich, but everybody was happy.” Revver had raised $12.7 million from Comcast, Turner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Richards and William Randolph Hearst III. The Revver team will continue working under the new ownership.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Yahoo-News Corp. Still Talking
We hear from two sources that News Corp. and Yahoo are still discussing a possible transaction, designed to create an alternative to a Microsoft takeover. (Or at least the appearance of one). News Corp. [owner of Dow Jones, which owns this site--Ed.] declined to comment, and we don’t have details. We do not believe News Corp. is considering an outright acquisition of Yahoo. News Corp. has repeatedly said it’s not interested in buying Yahoo, and it’s hard to see how the company could afford to compete with Microsoft’s resources.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
A Yahoo White Knight Emerges! Microsoft’s Shareholders…
Microsoft’s shareholders are unhappy about the Yahoo offer–and they’re expressing their displeasure by voting with their feet. As they do, they’re driving the price of Microsoft’s stock down, which, in turn, is driving the value of Microsoft’s Yahoo bid down. As explained here, it’s now only worth about $29.50 per share.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Who on Earth Would Want to Buy Yahoo?
While pundits yap away about how Yahoo is fresh acquisition meat, we find it hard to believe. The company is pretty pricey, with a market cap of roughly $33.5 billion, and the number of businesses that could actually swing it is minuscule.
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