buyout
Latest
BlackBerry board reportedly declined offers for specific limbs, wanted to sell the corpse whole
BlackBerry didn't end up with the $4.7 billion buyout it probably needs, instead settling for a $1 billion band aid, a new CEO and the same, uncertain future. It was an anticlimactic conclusion after so many were named as potential suitors, but as Reuters reports, the Canadian firm's board was unwilling to sell the company off piece by piece. Sources claim the board rejected several advances for chunks of the business on the basis it wouldn't pan out well for anyone, whether that be customers, employees or the folks holding the shares. For example, Microsoft and Apple allegedly showed particular interest in the QWERTY King's patents, but the value of the whole pie -- handsets, software, servers, intellectual property et al -- was considered to be worth more than the sum of each individual slice. Apparently, this doesn't rule out the company being dissected in the future, but how long until the idea is revisited depends on when that $1 billion runs out.
Samsung acquires 7.4 percent of Gorilla Glass maker Corning, signs long-term supply deal
In a move that could raise eyebrows in the LCD business, Corning has taken full control of Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co. Ltd., a joint venture 43 percent owned by Samsung. In exchange, the Korean company will get $1.9 billion worth of preferred shares in Corning, which if converted, would give it a 7.4 percent stake. The pair have also agreed to a deal that will see Samsung Display supplied by Corning through 2023. That company's Gorilla Glass is used in most high-end smartphones and tablets, including those made by Samsung, Apple, HTC and Motorola. Since the Korean giant already supplies most of its competitors with LCD displays and other components, we can imagine some of them casting a wary eye on such a deal.
Dell merger clears final regulatory hurdles in bid to go private
Michael Dell and investment firm Silver Lake Partners' joint bid to take Dell private has just cleared its final obstacle: regulatory approval. That means the deal is now all but completed. The transaction, valued at $25 billion, will see Dell transitioning to a private entity by the end of the company's fiscal Q3 2014 (which wraps this month). It also puts the company back firmly in Michael Dell's control, as he'll now own 75 percent of the new entity. And, as he discussed on the company's last open call with investors, that means a return to "innovation" for the PC, tablet and enterprise markets that will come to define the new Dell. Update: The post has been updated to reflect accurate timing for the transaction.
Dell board votes in favor of Michael Dell's $24.9 billion buyout offer
Dell has finally agreed to let founder Michael Dell take the company private through a partnership with investment firm Silver Lake Partners, in a deal valued $24.9 billion. The transaction, which is still pending regulatory approval, should see stockholders receiving $13.88 per share of common stock (including payment of a special cash dividend) and is expected to close in Q3 of Dell's 2014 fiscal year. In a statement released to the press, Michael Dell said that the newly private company's mission will be to "serve our customers with a single-minded purpose and drive the innovations that will help them achieve their goals." Update: On the company's investor call, Michael Dell, who retains 75 percent ownership under this new structure, reaffirmed Dell's commitment to innovation and customer service -- goals he said can now be better achieved "without the scrutiny of operating as a public company." He also outlined several key areas of focus for the newly private Dell, among which expanding its presence in emerging markets, investing in R&D and acquisitions for enterprise solutions, as well as the PC, tablet and virtual computing space are key pillars.
Reuters: Verizon's $130 billion bid for Vodafone stake to be voted on this weekend (update: it's a done deal)
Vodafone and Verizon might finally be "resolving" their business relationship, according to Reuters: the pair are said to be striking a deal this weekend. The typical folks "familiar with the matter," say that the firms' respective boards are voting on a $130 billion buyout that would put Vodafone's 45 percent stake in the network back in Verizon's hands. The price has gone up since we last heard about this deal, though the plan is essentially the same -- Verizon will finance half of the purchase through bonds and bank loans while covering the rest with cash on hand. Neither Verizon or Vodafone were willing to comment on the report, Reuters stated, but it's no secret that the two companies have mused over breaking their partnership in the past. We'll let you know if we hear anything official; until then, check out the source link to get the story from the horse's mouth. Update: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the deal has been finalized behind closed doors, reiterating that an official announcement could come as early as Monday. 2nd update: The deal is done, Verizon now owns itself, and the world can return to normal. The press release is below.
Reuters: BlackBerry leadership is open to the idea of going private
As BlackBerry continues to claw its way back into the smartphone race, a Reuters rumor tonight suggests its next move may be to pull a Dell and go private. Among other possible options including licensing the BlackBerry 10 OS or "other partnerships," the idea is that this could let it fix problems away from the public eye. The paper's "sources familiar with the situation" indicated BlackBerry has talked with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners -- currently best known for its part in the still-in-limbo Dell buyout -- about teaming up on enterprise computing, but that those talks did not include buyout-related discussions. Of course, being open to the idea is hardly actually taking the jump, and many analysts, investors and potential partners have their own ideas about how to repair things in Waterloo. We'll see if these rumors ever pan out, feel free to leave suggestions for Thorsten & Co. -- remember, BBM on iOS and Android is already happening -- in the comments below.
Michael Dell and Silver Lake up their offer for Dell buyout
The competition for Dell is heating up again today, as CEO Michael Dell and investment outfit Silver Lake have increased their buyout offer for the company. The new agreement raises the per share price to $13.75, provides for a special dividend of 13 cents per share, as well as an 8 cents per share dividend in the third quarter. Basically, these revised terms add, at the most, $470 million to the previous proposal that valued the company at around $24.4 billion. In order to give shareholders a chance to mull it over, the date when deciding votes will be cast has been pushed to September 12th. Plenty of time for the next counter-offer to come through, then.
Activision Blizzard is going independent, buying out Vivendi for $8 billion
Gaming giant Activision Blizzard announced it's buying out most of majority shareholder Vivendi's stake, at a total price of about $8.2 billion. Activision will pay about $5.83 billion in cash to Vivendi for 429 million shares, while an investment group led by CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly will pick up 172 million shares for $2.34 billion, leaving Vivendi with 83 million shares, or about 12 percent of the company. The publisher of titles like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft (and Guitar Hero before it ran that into the ground), Activision reported $1.05 billion in net revenue for Q2 and raised its full-year revenue outlook slightly, although full results won't be available until August 1st. As Joystiq mentions, Vivendi has been unsuccessfully trying to sell its part of the company for nearly a year, hopefully this transaction works out the best for everyone. By everyone, we mean people still waiting for StarCraft: Ghost.
Clearwire shareholders approve buyout by Sprint
Well, the FCC has already offered its tacit approval of the merger between Sprint, Clearwire and Softbank. And Sprint shareholders are on board with its buyout by Softbank. Really, the last hurdle for this major wireless marriage, was Clearwire's shareholders. Now they've approved the plan to be purchased by Sprint, which in turn will be absorbed by Softbank, putting an end to a long drama over the tiny carrier's future. When Dish decided to exit the bidding war over the company in late June it seemed to be all but a done deal that Sprint, already a majority shareholder of Clearwire, would take over the rest of the company. The deal is expected to be officially closed on July 9th, followed only shortly after by the Sprint and Softbank merger on July 10th.
Dish withdraws its offer to buy Clearwire
And with that, Dish is (seemingly) out of the running: following a decision to back away from buying Sprint, the satellite TV giant has also withdrawn its bid for Clearwire. The company is bowing out due to a "change in recommendation" at Clearwire -- in other words, shareholders now prefer Sprint's recently sweetened offer. Between that and Sprint's lawsuit, we're not expecting Dish to make another acquisition attempt, especially when Softbank's acquisition of Sprint (and thus Clearwire) could close in a matter of weeks.
Twitter acquires Spindle, a 'news feed for your neighborhood'
Good news for the folks at Spindle came today, as the provider of hyperlocal offers from businesses was acquired by Twitter. Described by the company as, "a tool for tuning into your surroundings," the service pulls updates from Twitter and Facebook and categorizes offers around themes such as restaurants and shopping. Spindle also includes a social element, with the ability to share check-ins through Facebook and Twitter. The service is currently limited to 11 cities, which includes New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, but according to the company, "By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what's happening around you." As sad news to current users of Spindle, however, the service will shut down effective today, as the team prepares for its transition to the Twitter team in San Francisco. At any rate, it looks like the folks at Lucky Sort won't be the rookies of Twitter HQ anymore. For a peek at what Spindle entails, just hop the break.
Sprint sues Dish and Clearwire, claims buyout offer is illegal
Sprint warned Clearwire in early June that it viewed Dish's latest attempt to buy it as illegal, and now the carrier is following up with legal action. Big Yellow has just announced that its filed a lawsuit against Dish and its acquisition target in Delaware, as it believes the buyout would violate state law and the rights of shareholders and investors in both itself and Clearwire. The Now Network is asking the court to prevent the completion of the deal, rescind certain parts of the agreement and seek "declaratory, injunctive, compensatory and other relief." In the outfit's own words, the suit "details how DISH has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire's shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in an effort to acquire Clearwire's spectrum and to obstruct Sprint's transaction with Clearwire." Stand back folks, the legal fireworks are just starting. Update: Head past the break to catch a statement from Dish on the matter.
Google confirms acquisition of Waze
One of the more persistent acquisition rumors as of late has come true: Google just confirmed that it bought Waze. As many expected, the deal will see Waze largely operate independently of its new parent while supplying Google Maps with traffic update features. The stand-alone Waze app, meanwhile, will receive some of Google's know-how in search. While the two sides haven't discussed the much ballyhooed (and reportedly $1 billion-plus) purchase price, we suspect it was just large enough to snub Facebook.
Battle for Dell continues as shareholders Icahn, Southeastern partner on an offer
Michael Dell's deal with Microsoft to buy back the computer company bearing his name hasn't gone through yet, and tonight two of its largest shareholders joined forces on another option. Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management have both opposed the $24.4 billion / $13.65 per share buyout proposal from the start and have an alternative proposal: a $12 per share dividend, funded by Dell's $9 billion in cash and $5.2 billion in new debt. If that's not accepted, the two also claim to be ready to put up a slate of 12 directors ahead of Dell's annual shareholder meeting, or take their challenge to the courts. Even with the reported withdrawal of a counter offer from Blackstone Group, things remain complicated -- we'll wait and see if any of these threats go through, or if they successfully wrangle a better buyout offer from Dell, Microsoft & Co.
Wavii confirms acquisition by Google, starts to wind down its own service
There was an odd level of uncertainty surrounding Google's reported buyout of Wavii: where Google usually mentions acquisitions in short order, mum's been the word for much of the past week. Thankfully, we won't be left hanging over the weekend -- Wavii has stepped forward to confirm the deal is happening. Neither side has discussed the terms involved, but Wavii chief Adrian Aoun made it clear the acquisition is for the technology first and foremost. Wavii's info summarization service will be shutting down, while the company's expertise in natural language processing should find its way into future Google projects. It's sad to see another independent service absorbed by a much larger company, but we're at least likely to see the fruits of Wavii's labor through some very public channels.
Reuters: Verizon lining up $100 billion bid to buy out Vodafone's share of VZW
Word that Verizon would like to buy out Vodafone's 45 percent share of Verizon Wireless is hardly new, but Reuters reports it may finally be financially ready to take that step. According to unnamed sources, it's hired bank and legal advisers to prepare the bid, raising $50 billion in bank financing plus $50 billion in its own shares. Friendly discussions are said to start "soon," but if Vodafone is not interested it could take its bid public. It's probably no coincidence that the news is leaking just before Verizon's board meets to discuss a buyout before its regular shareholders meeting, but there are some potential complications. One holdup has been a potential hefty tax bill, but the Verizon CFO has been quoted saying he thinks that can be avoided, giving it more flexibility based on the cash generated by the wireless business.
Dell bidding war afoot as Blackstone Group and Carl Icahn both make offers (update: confirmed)
Thought that Dell buy out was a done deal? Well, the Blackstone Group and investor Carl Icahn clearly don't think so, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that both have contacted the committee of Dell's board just before Friday's shutoff deadline. The would-be bidders are reported to be working on their actual offer amounts, and in the process buying them four more days thinking time. Reuters reports that Blackstone's tentative offer is already in, according to sources, but at this time the company is yet to comment. Despite a recent slump in profits, Michael Dell surprised many when he announced his intention to buy back the eponymous firm in a deal with Microsoft for $24.4 billion. So, if the founder thought he had the keys to the old estate back, he might just have to wait a little longer. Update: The rumors were true, and now there's a PR to prove it. The Blackstone Group and Carl Icahn have indeed both made offers, and "Michael Dell has confirmed to the Committee his willingness to explore in good faith the possibility of working with third parties regarding alternative acquisition proposals."
Sky to buy Telefonica UK's fixed phone line and broadband business for up to £200 million
Sky already supplies fixed phone line and broadband on top of its TV services in the UK, but it's just announced it'll be gaining a few more customers. The company has shaken hands with Telefonica UK to purchase the latter's broadband and phone line business provided by the consumer-facing O2 and BE brands. As you would imagine, big bucks will change hands: Sky plans to fork over £180 million (around $273 million) right off the bat, and will write a check for up to a further £20 million (circa $30 million) "dependent upon the successful delivery and completion of the customer migration process by Telefonica UK." Regulators will need to give the deal the thumbs up before it's official, but if and when that happens, Sky will become the second biggest ISP in the UK after adding over 500,000 new customers to its books. Should everything progress as planned, the buyout will be completed by the end of April, which gives Rupert Murdoch just enough time to carry out the vault extension he'll need. Update: If you're worried this transaction will impact anything you're currently signed up to, you can probably rest easy. O2 has tweeted one of our editors to report "there will be no material change to a customer's broadband service and no fundamental contract change."
Clearwire borrows $80 million from Sprint but still flirts with Dish
Who knew that the greatest love triangle of the decade would involve the mobile industry's own Bella Swan, Clearwire? The network provider has accepted an $80 million loan from nailed-on suitor and sparkly vampire, Sprint, but Clear is still pondering a buyout offer from Jacob, sorry, Dish Network. The scuttlebutt around Forks the industry is that Dish will withdraw its bid after spurned by Clearwire one too many times -- but you never can tell with true love, or multi-billion business deals.
Dell debates going private, Microsoft to pay billions to help make it happen?
The rumor mill's been running at full bore for about a week now, with unnamed sources explaining that Dell wants to become a private company, perhaps because of its recent lackluster financial performance. Today, the volume of those rumors has gotten louder. Both CNBC and the Wall Street Journal report that Microsoft's looking to help buy out the PC maker, paying a grand chunk -- between $1 and $3 billion -- of the price to buy out Dell's publicly-owned shares. According to Reuters' sources, Michael Dell and his cohort have formed a committee to evaluate any such deals or offers, but naturally, any other details about Microsoft's (or anyone else's) involvement are few and far between. We've reached out to both Microsoft and Dell for comment, and we'll update our post here as we learn more.
