Yahoo has confirmed it has bought Tumblr, in a deal noted yesterday to be in the region of $1.1 billion. The search company has already moved its company blog over to the blogging platform, and despite CEO Marissa Mayer saying "We promise not to screw it up," there is reportedly a large jump in the number of users moving from Tumblr to Wordpress.
Japanese carrier SoftBank is expecting to complete its acquisition of Sprint by July, despite a sudden roadblock in the form of alternate offers to Sprint. A statement from Softbank providing a date for completion comes in the wake of Sprint receiving a second bid from Dish Network to merge, valued at $25.5 billion.
A new published account of how Apple acquired both the technology and employees of music startup Lala and failed social network Color sheds insight into the deal-making style of Apple executives, at least while Steve Jobs was CEO. Aubrey Johnson, a former designer at Color, recounts the rise of Lala and the struggles of Color and how Apple eventually paid "pennies on the dollar" to acquire the Color talent that had walked away from the Lala deal. The blog post sheds some light on the workings of small acquisitions and backroom dealings.
Verizon’s controversial $3.6 billion acquisition of AWS spectrum licenses from cable companies initiated late last year has now borne fruit with its wireless services now being offered with Time Warner Cable bundles. When the deal was first announced, it was intended that Verizon would partner with the cable companies to help expand their services. Time Warner explains in its FAQ that the new bundle now offers customers the opportunity to also enjoy content wirelessly on mobile devices as well.
Following its failed attempt to acquire T-Mobile, AT&T has begun a reorganization of its leadership, according to Reuters. The changes have seen experienced, longs-serving AT&T executives promoted. 27-year veteran John Stankey has been put in charge of strategy, while Forrest Miller, the current head of corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions is retiring after 30 years. The company also said that 32-year company man Andy Geisse will head up the business segment, and and John Donovan will take over duties leading the AT&T’s technology and network operations.
December 20th marked the 15th anniversary of the day Apple announced a buyout of NeXT, the startup technology firm founded by Steve Jobs that eventually provided both the technology and the executive team that formed the basis of Mac OS X, the operating system that set the company on a new path. The $429 million paid for NeXT was until recently Apple's largest-ever acquisition, but the investment has stood the test of time.
Google reportedly bid against itself during the negotiations that led to the company's Motorola Mobility acquisition. A proxy statement posted by the SEC sheds light on details surrounding the deal, which could have been made for $30 per share if Motorola and its advisory firm, Qatalyst Group, had not pushed Google to make secondary offers that consequently brought the purchase price up to $40 per share.
AT&T is said to be sweet talking tech firms on its planned acquisition of T-Mobile. Insiders report that its executives have met with the top Silicon Valley companies and venture-capital firms. The discussions, which were cordial, form a critical component of AT&T’s proposed $39 billion take-over of T-Mobile. Their support, or at the very least lack of objection, will help it convince the Department of Justice and the FCC to green light the deal.
Garmin has announced its acquisition of MetriGear, a Silicon Valley-based startup that has focused on technology for bicyclists. The purchase is expected to help Garmin expand its fitness division, which currently offers a variety of Edge-series GPS systems that combine GPS tools with cycle computer functionality.
Naan Studio, the software developer behind Echofon Twitter apps, has detailed its experience dealing with the FTC over Google's acquisition of AdMob. In a company blog, staff member Chika suggests the FTC pressured her to criticize the deal despite Naan's overall support for the acquisition. The dialogue was described as more of an "interrogation," while the FTC reportedly dismissed the company's larger concern over Apple's rival deal with Quattro Wireless.
Google on Thursday officially confirmed its acquisition of the VoIP company Gizmo5. Unnamed sources leaked the information earlier this week, including the alleged $30 million price tag. The startup initially had been eyed by Skype, however the deal never materialized.
Apple's recent acquisition of PA Semiconductor appears to revolve around the latter company's intellectual properties and expertise, not its current products as was initially believed. AppleInsider reveals that Apple is more concerned with PA's technologies and engineers, since the semiconductor manufacturer has in the past created a dual-core 64-bit chip which only uses 15 watts of power to operate. This could allow for integration of low-consumption processors like the Intel Atom.
Sling's long-awaited Sling Catcher is suffering from a delay that will most likely push its release to late 2008. The delay was discovered by Engadget reader "Christopher", who was a prospective customer of Sling's, noting that the vice president of sales Gregg Wilkes sent him an email informing him that the device was not up to the company's high standards. Wilkes also cited that the company's recent acquisition by EchoStar has caused for some complications.
VVI has updated its data acquisition and strip chart application, DAQ Plot to version 10.5.1. Te new release adds 64-bit capabilities, making it the first 64-bit capable app of its kind available for Mac OS X. The app is traditionally used in medical device, pharmaceutics and other important health and engineering projects. The new release also uses the latest hardware-accelerated graphics techniques to deliver data acquisition is real-time and up to 50,000 samples per second.
Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Yahoo! has gotten a bit more contentious. Bloomberg reports that a group of Yahoo shareholders have jointly filed a lawsuit against the search company for rejecting the $45 billion offer from Microsoft. Michigan's Wayne County Employees' Retirement System, which owns a relatively small 13,000 block of shares of Yahoo claims in the suit that the company failed to enter into substantial negotiations with Microsoft. "The board of directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options. Our board believes the Microsoft proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo," Yahoo spokesperson Diana Wong told Bloomberg.
