Despite issuing an early statement of objection, the EC has come around to see the merits of a TomTom / Tele Atlas deal. In fact, the two companies have received "unconditional clearance" from the European Commission for the proposed acquisition. The US already approved the deal in October. Thing is, shareholders better get a move on since the bidding-war-boosted $4.2 billion offer (plus another $300 million thanks to the weakass dollar) made in November is set to expire on May 30th. Although it could be extended. Of course, Garmin made a move for Tele Atlas early on with a $3.3 billion bid of its own. Nevertheless, with TomTom profits heading downward and Garmin's own, hotly anticipated Nuvifone on the horizon, maybe Garmin will be laughing last after all.

We're not usually too down with enterprise-services action, but it's hard not to notice HP's $12-13B bid to buy out rival Electronic Data Systems. EDS is best remembered for that "Herding Cats" Super Bowl commercial, but things have been rough lately -- the company just posted 62 percent decline in first-quarter profits. Still, EDS remains a leader in technology outsourcing, and HP seems to think that it'll be better able to take down Big Blue's powerhouse services and consulting group if they merge. The deal isn't done yet, but we should know how things go soon.

Update: The deal is done. HP confirmed that it's buying EDS for $25 per share or $12.5 billion. EDS will be rebranded, "EDS -- an HP company" in recognition of its own corporate blandness.

Every bean-counter knows that falling prices and shrinking margins add up to one thing - cost-cutting pressure. Now we get word that JVC and Kenwood are merging underneath a single holding company, aptly named JVC Kenwood Holdings. Hopes are high for the new company, with plans to quadruple profit in three short years by focusing on car and home audio. Expect to see more of this kind of merger/acquisition activity, especially among small- to medium-sized companies as more competition -- especially from South Korea and China -- ramps up. Every JVC share will be exchanged for two shares in the new company, while Kenwood stock will get a 1-for-1 rate. JVC definitely got the better end of the deal, with JVC's president continuing on in that role with the new company. It will be interesting to watch how this might affect Kenwood/Bain Capital bidding for D&M Holdings.

EDIT: the new company will be called JVC Kenwood Holdings, not JVC Holdings. - Thanks, dcny!

Times haven't been so great at Helio, but it looks like the troubled MVNO could be snapped up by Virgin Mobile. mocoNews did a little digging after Virgin's recent Q1 conference call, and says that the two companies are currently in merger talks. Since both companies use Sprint's network, the tech would be compatible, and the deal would give SK Telecom a way to keep Helio going as it tries to gain a foothold in the US market. Nothing's set in stone yet and the two companies aren't talking, but we'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

Well, what do you know? Sometimes even the most repetitive of rumors finally comes true. Barely 12 hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that a deal between Sprint, Clearwire (and just about everyone) else was dangerously close to going down, it seems as if the bottom lines have indeed been signed. Details are pretty light at the moment, but we definitively know that Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. will be merging their "next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company." Quite simply, the new WiMAX-pushing outfit will be called Clearwire, even though Sprint will hold around 51-percent of the firm, while existing Clearwire shareholders will own 27-percent and the new investors will hold 22-percent. New investors? Ah yes, Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will collectively invest $3.2 billion in the new company, but that figure is "based on a target price of $20 a share of Clearwire's common stock, and is subject to a post-closing adjustment."

[Via CNN]

After the beating the company is taking in the stock market, and with several prominent investors stepping forward to express dissatisfaction with how things were handled, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang says he was willing to discuss things further if Microsoft hadn't turned its back on the offer. "We did not say it was a take-it-or-leave-it number in the sense that we would never negotiate any more," he said, referring to the $37 figure. "We were totally willing to do a transaction, and they walked away." Deep down we know he's just miffed to be missing out on sleeping bag to sleeping bag discussions with Ballmer about adding an exclamation mark to Microsoft. Dream on, Yang.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

Update: Microsoft claims "we've moved on."

Looks like that seemingly-desperate two month extension XM and Sirius gave each on the merger agreement paid off after all -- federal regulators have finally approved the $5B deal. The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division says that after "thorough and careful review" (we'll say -- it's been over a year), it's determined that allowing the two satellite radio companies to merge "is not likely to harm consumers." The deciding factor appeared to be the proprietary hardware needed to receive both XM and Sirius; since consumers who shell out aren't likely to switch, the DOJ doesn't think the marketplace is all that competitive to begin with, which makes the impact of a merger relatively small. In fact, the DOJ says the merger could actually benefit consumers, who might see lower prices as the result of more efficient operations, broader programming options, and faster rollouts of new technology.

Of course, it's not quite all over yet -- the FCC's approval is yet to come following its own historic delay and NAB's rabble-rousing, but most analysts say the FCC will follow the Justice Department's lead and approve the merger as well. Now the big question: will consumers be able to use their existing radios to get all the stations or not? We'll let you know -- we're trying to find out all we can. Entire official DOJ statement after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We've heard nothing since January when the first rumors broke of a Logitech buyout by Microsoft. In fact, the rumor mill has been so quiet that we nearly forgot about the prospect. Now Logitech CEO, Guerrino De Luca, told an Italian newspaper over the weekend that a Microsoft takeover would be "an operation without sense." Kind of like a MicroHoo after all the engineers quit to join Google, eh Geurrino? He says that, "without competition Logitech would lose the great pressure to innovate. Moreover there would be problems from antitrust authorities seeing as the two companies together would have a virtual global monopoly in mice and keyboards." Come to think of it, that sounds more like a warning to Microsoft to think twice about making a hostile takeover bid than it does a flat denial of rumors. As usual, having officially commented on the rumor only serves to perpetuate speculation.

[Via GamesIndustry]

According to Pacific Crest Washington analyst Erik Olbeter (yeah, you know, Erik Olbeter), the seemingly ill-fated, extremely drawn out XM and Sirius merger now seems, "Less likely." It shouldn't come as any surprise if you've been following this story, which is now entering its 13th month of heel-dragging and unfulfilled promises. With last week's announcement that the deadline would be extended an additional two months, Olbeter feels that, "Prospects for the merger have become increasingly cloudy." He goes on to suggest that, "The FCC and Department of Justice are having a hard time justifying the deal," though he believes that both are, "inclined to approve the merger." Still, not a terrific outlook by any means, and certainly a contributor to the increasing feeling that this thing might never really happen.

[Via Orbitcast]

It's barely been a month since Acer dropped a big chunk of cash to buy up 75% of Packard Bell, but it looks like the company still had plenty of money left to throw around, as it's now parted with a hefty $290 million to buy up 100% of Glofiish smartphone-maker E-Ten. According to Acer itself, the boards of both E-Ten and Acer approved the deal unanimously, and they expect the acquisition to close sometime during the third quarter of this year. Any other details, however, are expectedly light, including any word on how future devices would be branded, with Acer chairmen J.T. Wang only saying that the "acquisition of E-TEN increases Acer's global footprint by giving us a strong and highly credible presence in the mobility segment." No word on any future moves by Acer just yet but, given its recent spending spree, we wouldn't be surprised if it tried to expand that "global footprint" even further.

[Via Phone Scoop]

The XM / Sirius merger soap opera never ends, does it? Although the original deal allowed for either company to walk away risk free on March 1 if government regulators didn't approve, the two companies have looked each other deeply in the eye and re-affirmed their love for each other -- for another two months. That's right, they've only extended the deadline for a whopping eight more weeks -- it's like no one at either company has noticed that this no part of this process has actually been on schedule or gone smoothly. Seriously, if we thought we could put a merger on deathwatch, we might actually do that here. Ah well, here's to young love -- too bad most of those stories end up with everyone dead, eh?

Well, it looks like the aggressively priced unlimited action really didn't come a moment too soon. We're no economists here, but it doesn't take rocket science, a Ph.D., collegiate level maths, or even a fancy calculator to crunch the cold, hard numbers coming out of Sprint Nextel's fourth quarter earnings call. For starters, the number three carrier in the US reported a net loss of nearly $29.5 billion, which -- get this -- is more than the combined value of its outstanding stock. Let us reiterate for emphasis and drama value: Sprint lost more money in the fourth quarter of 2007 than the company is worth. Wow. If it's any consolation, the staggering figure is largely due to a $29.7 billion write-down of Nextel's value, which as the Wall Street Journal lays out, makes the 2005 merger officially a "Deal From Hell." With postpaid subscribers continuing to migrate to other carriers, there's no telling how to stop the hemorrhaging -- especially if the fresh $99 unlimited plan doesn't end up doing the trick -- but something tells us the move to Kansas isn't going to magically patch it all up.

Sure, the folks in Redmond didn't get their grubby mitts on Yahoo! (yet), but at least they picked up a little something for their mobile division, namely: Danger. According to news just crossing the wires, the monolithic company has picked up the Sidekick-creators for an undisclosed amount, and will subsequently fold the phone-maker into its mobile wing. Is there a Windows Mobile version of the Hiptop in our future? Survey says yes.