Deutsche Telekom has updated its proposal to merge T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS with more favorable financial terms, in an effort to get shareholders to vote for the deal. The changes to the proposal, which has been deemed its "best and final offer," has forced MetroPCS to delay the final shareholder vote until April 24th.
T-Mobile may lose its multi-billion dollar break-up fee if its purchase by AT&T is successfully blocked by the Department of Justice, according to a new report. AT&T was to pay T-Mobile $3 billion in cash and another $3 billion comprised of the estimated value of certain spectrum and a national roaming agreement. The break-up fee is in real danger of collapsing if certain conditions aren’t met, and T-Mobile could be left with nothing to walk away with.
In brief: LaCie has formed a strategic partnership with an online storage provider, while The X Lab has announced a new troubleshooting book and Parallels has opened preregistration to next year's summit. Caleido AG, creators of the online storage solution Wuala have announced that it has merged with LaCie, a manufacturer of external storage devices. Dominik Grolimund, co-founder and CEO of Caledio AG is excited about the new partnership and believes that together the two companies will be able to "build a reliable and secure cloud storage by integrating millions of devices around the world." LaCie believes the collaboration will allow the company to transform into a comprehensive digital storage provider. Philippe Spruch, LaCie's CEO, is looking forward to providing customers with new storage methods.
Monday's reports have three of China's six telecommunications companies undergoing government-mandated mergers and acquisitions. A share swap totaling an equivalent of $56.3 billion will see cellular network provider China Unicom acquire land-line provider China Netcom. Under the agreement, each Netcom share will be traded for 1.5 new China Unicom shares, with the companies expecting to seal the deal by year's end. At the same time, China Unicom companies will sell their CDMA network and associated business to China Telecom, the world's biggest land line and broadband provider, for an equivalent of $15.9 billion.
Microsoft has put the final nail in the coffin in terms of the Yahoo merger, as the proposed proxy board received notice from the software giant Thursday morning, dismissing any responsibilities the board would have had in the event of a hostile takeover. The Wall Street Journal writes that Microsoft's law firm Sullivan & Cromwell sent out the notice, indicating that company is firmly rooted in its decision to not make a hostile bid for Yahoo.
Both Sirius and XM satellite radio providers decided to postpone their respective shareholder meetings as they await the FCC's approval of their merger. XM had a shareholder meeting scheduled for May 23, with Sirius execs assembling on May 20, suggesting the two don’t expect the matter to be resolved at least until the end of next month. The FCC is reviewing concerns that analysts believe include "public interest" issues such as pricing of the service, which would effectively have no competition on the satellite radio market.
Sirius sent a prototype Starmate 5 satellite radio receiver to the FCC for testing, revealing some images as well as specs. Other than the color difference of an otherwise identical body, it's not clear how the Starmate 5 differs from the current Starmate 4. One hint as to a unique feature is mention of either an XM or Sirius radio signal used in testing in a memo between a member of the testing firm and FCC authorization staff.
