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Elon Musk has a backup plan to kill his Twitter takeover
Elon Musk is making another attempt to kill his Twitter acquisition by citing whistleblower Peiter Zatko, Twitter's former head of security.
Elon Musk says he has the financial backing for his proposed Twitter takeover
Elon Musk says he has the funding commitments he needs to buy Twitter, although whether or not that happens isn't clear.
Square Enix denies takeover rumors
Square Enix has denied reports that it is being targeted by multiple buyers for a potential takeover.
EA moves closer to $1.2 billion Codemasters purchase
Shareholders of the racing game studio approved the deal.
Uber is reportedly trying to buy Postmates
Uber has reportedly made an offer to buy Postmates, creating a food delivery giant.
Microsoft's $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition is complete
It's official: Microsoft now owns GitHub. After European Commission officials approved the deal last week, it seemed only a matter of time until the $7.5 billion acquisition was completed.
EU approves Microsoft's $7.5 billion GitHub takeover
The EU has unconditionally approved Microsoft's $7.5 billion deal for GitHub, moving the acquisition another step closer towards closing. After a five-week probe, European Commission antitrust officials concluded that the takeover raises "no competition concerns because the merged entity would continue to face significant competition from other players."
Tribune ends Sinclair merger bid and files suit over losses
Today, Tribune Media announced that it is no longer interested in Sinclair's $3.9 billion takeover. Furthermore, the company is filing suit against Sinclair for breach of contract, which asks for compensation for all of Tribune's losses as a result of the breach.
Broadcom hopes to woo Qualcomm with a higher takeover bid (updated)
Broadcom clearly isn't taking Qualcomm's "no" for an answer. Reuters sources have claimed that the wireless chip giant is about to raise its takeover bid for Qualcomm from $70 per share to between $80 and $82 per share -- a huge increase for a deal that would have already set records. It would also include a "higher-than-usual" breakup fee in case regulators put the kibosh on the merger. While details are reportedly in flux, Broadcom would announce the sweeter offer on February 5th.
Qualcomm hopes Samsung deal will fix its antitrust woes
Troubled chipmaker Qualcomm has struck a deal with Samsung that may quash its hefty antitrust case in South Korea and ward off a rumoured hostile bid takeover from rival Broadcom. While the exact terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, the new patent cross-licensing agreement stipulates that Samsung "will be withdrawing" its interventions in Qualcomm's appeal against its $854 million fine from the Korean Fair Trade Commission.
Qualcomm rejects Broadcom’s buyout bid
Last week, wireless chip manufacturer Broadcom made a $130 billion bid to buy out rival Qualcomm. The unsolicited proposal was expected to be rejected by Qualcomm, and as of this morning, it has been. The company's board of directors unanimously voted against Broadcom's bid saying that it undervalued Qualcomm.
Qualcomm plans to reject Broadcom's takeover bid
Broadcom might have to forget about taking over Qualcomm without a fight -- Reuters sources claim that Qualcomm's board is planning to reject the unsolicited buyout bid. Reportedly, Broadcom's offer of $70 per share, despite setting a record, "undervalues" Qualcomm and doesn't account for the potential regulatory hurdles involved in clinching such a huge deal. The chip giant could voice its objections as early as November 13th, the tipsters said, but might take a few days to ready a fuller response.
Qualcomm may face takeover bid from chip rival Broadcom
Qualcomm is already facing headaches between antitrust cases and its patent spat with Apple, but there's one more that might join the pile. The Financial Times reports that Broadcom, one of Qualcomm's main rivals in the wireless chipset space, is planning an unsolicited $100 billion takeover bid. The move would easily eclipse Qualcomm's previous record-setting bid to buy NXP (which has yet to be cleared), and Broadcom is supposedly willing to buy NXP in the process. A formal announcement could be made public before the weekend is out, if the scoop is accurate.
Lyft says it listened to offers, but is not for sale
Lyft is disputing reports from The New York Times and other sites (including Engadget) that the company is actively seeking a buyer. "Getting approached and then having it characterized as us wanting to sell the business and failing to do so is a large mischaracterization," President John Zimmer told Business Insider.
Dell's buying EMC for $67 billion in the biggest tech deal ever
Dell has agreed to buy EMC Corporation for a deal worth $67 billion. While EMC isn't a household name, some of its products and subsidiaries are. In addition to selling cloud services, storage and analytic solutions to enterprise companies, EMC owns the security firm RSA and the virtualization solution VMware. The deal is huge -- it's being billed as the largest tech acquisition in history. EMC is probably worth twice as much as Dell itself right now, and has some 70,000 employees worldwide.
Amazon reportedly ready to snatch Twitch away from Google (update: confirmed)
Remember that rumored $1 billion deal Google worked out to purchase the internet's most popular game-streaming service? Amazon may be taking it over. According to The Information, folks close to the deal say that Twitch and Amazon are in late stage talks for a $1 billion acquisition. Why the change in buyer? It's not clear (or confirmed), though it might be a response to concerns that joining Google could stifle innovation or competition. Either way, neither company is talking about the rumor right now, though one person involved suggested that the deal could be formally announced soon. Update: Amazon and Twitch made the news official after this was published.
Sky spends £5 billion to become one of Europe's biggest pay-TV operators
Rumors of an assault on Europe have circled for quite some time, but today BSkyB has finally made a move to expand its pay-TV empire outside of the UK. The company today announced it has agreed to pay 21st Century Fox a total of £4.9 billion ($8.33 billion) to acquire Sky Italia and buy the majority share (57 percent) of Sky Deutschland. If the deal is given the green light by regulators, the newly-formed Sky Europe would emerge with almost 20 million European customers.
Google is reportedly buying Twitch for $1 billion
What's the internet's most popular game-streaming service worth? About $1 billion, if VentureBeat sources have their story straight. Earlier this year, Variety and the Wall Street Journal reported that Google was in talks to acquire Twitch, but conceded that the two companies were only just starting negotiations. Now, sources familiar with the deal say an agreement has been reached, though its unclear when the reported acquisition will be officially announced. Naturally, there are some concerns that a Google acquisition of Twitch would stifle competition for rival services, but the tried and true platform could certainly bolster Mountain View's own streaming efforts. If nothing else, perhaps the deal will validate emerging market shared gameplay in the eyes of its doubters. Both Google and Twitch have declined to comment on the report.
Variety: Google is near buying game video service Twitch (update)
AT&T may not be the only one landing a big acquisition this weekend. Variety claims that Google's YouTube division has struck a deal to buy Twitch, the game-focused video streaming service, for more than $1 billion. Neither side is commenting on the rumor, but it's easy to see why YouTube would splurge -- Twitch has more online viewers than some big sports networks, and a takeover would immediately secure a larger presence in the gaming world. Google is reportedly expecting a battle with regulators, which might argue that the deal stifles competition with other internet video providers. If the scoop is accurate, though, the company clearly believes that the expanded audience is worth the hassle. Update: The Wall Street Journal corroborates the rumors, but says that it's still early; Twitch may ultimately raise funding rather than sell itself off. The video-streaming service has told Engadget that it currently has no comment on the report.
AT&T to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion (updated)
AT&T clearly isn't taking Comcast's recent acquisition efforts lying down; it just announced plans to buy DirecTV in a deal worth about $48.5 billion. The communications giant sees a takeover as an opportunity to expand how it delivers video beyond just the bundles it has today. If officials approve the merger, AT&T could send conventional and internet-based video to virtually any place you happen to be, whether it's on your phone or in mid-flight. This also represents a content grab -- DirecTV has the exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket and other premium programming, so there's a chance that much of its content could reach U-verse and other AT&T offerings.
