mergers
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The FCC is set to approve AT&T's DirecTV acquisition (update: DoJ too)
As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the FCC is gearing up to approve AT&T's $49 billion acquisition of DirecTV. Commission Chairman Thomas Wheeler confirmed that he is set to call a vote on the matter with the FCC's other four commissioners. According to Wheeler, the proposal will "directly benefit customers" by increasing competition in the broadband marketplace. Most importantly, the FCC's approval comes with strings: AT&T will not be permitted to exclude affiliated video services and content from data caps on its fixed broadband connections, and it must submit all interconnection reports to the FCC, as well as reports on network performance. If the deal passes their vote, it will be clear to close. The deal will transform AT&T into the nation's largest pay television provider as well as its second largest telecom, combining AT&T's U-verse and DirecTV's satellite offerings. Update: The Justice Department also announced tonight that it "will not challenge" AT&T's acquisition of DirecTV, clearing the path for it to go through once the commission votes. For AT&T's part, it says "We hope the order will be approved by the Commission quickly and we expect to close shortly thereafter."
Netflix is totally cool with Charter buying Time Warner Cable
Charter Communications has Netflix's support for its $55 billion proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable after promising the streaming service settlement-free "peering" through 2018. Peering, according to The Internet Peering Playbook, is a local routing optimization method that allows two networks to exchange traffic without incurring transit fees. On Tuesday, Charter reportedly filed a document with the FCC stating that it wouldn't charge any website for faster access until at least December 31st, 2018. Netflix also filed a document stating that it would not oppose the acquisition as it had last year's Comcast-TWC merger.
'Stop Mega Comcast' group aims to kill the Time Warner merger
Comcast just can't catch a break. Opponents of the company's $45 billion Time Warner Cable merger have gathered forces to create the "Stop Mega Comcast" coalition, just as the FCC has announced that it's restarting its regulatory review of the deal. The group, which includes Dish Network, the communications non-profit Public Knowledge and others, serves as a united front against the merger. Comcast is already the largest cable provider in the U.S., but the Time Warner deal would make it even more of a juggernaut with 11 million additional customers and control of 50% of the home broadband market. "This much power concentrated in the hands of one company would be frightening even for the most trustworthy of companies," Public Knowledge's CEO Gene Kimmelman said in a statement. "And Comcast is definitely not that."
DirecTV reportedly one of three $1 billion-plus bidders for Hulu
And then there were three. Bloomberg is reporting that a trio of companies are hoping to fork out over one billion dollars for the privilege of taking online video service Hulu under their wing, and DirecTV is one of them. While we're not quite sure which other companies are involved in the process, we've been told that Yahoo, Time Warner Cable and a few others have at least thrown out offers, with no confirmation on how much they were willing to spend. Although those "people with knowledge of the bid" could include a few hoping to encourage more $1b+ offers, those extra large checks increase the odds Hulu will actually sell this time. We're quietly hoping that this potential bidding war will be resolved through an arm wrestling match, though DirecTV's legal team likely wouldn't approve.
Former president of Square Enix calls corporate merger a disaster
Corporate mergers always create hard feelings. Combining two separate groups of people into a single culture is naturally going to generate some feelings that the companies were better off apart. That's certainly the case for Hisashi Suzuki, the former president of Square Enix who recently called the merger of the two companies a "complete failure" via Twitter, claiming that the company has absolutely no vision for the future. It's undeniable that the studio has seen some titles with poor reception in recent years, with Final Fantasy XIV's launch proving a major misstep for the company at the time (and being the most relevant to the MMO industry). At the same time, Suzuki left the company seven years ago, and the company is in the process of completely revamping Final Fantasy XIV following the mistakes of launch. Whether or not Suzuki is correct or simply a bit bitter after the fact falls to personal interpretation.
Zentia developer ChangYou spends $68 million on a browser game company
Brower-based gaming is starting to really catch on, with a variety of games either staking out the browser as the sole required program or offering play options to browser-bound players. ChangYou, the development company most known to western readers for its game Zentia, has apparently decided that the browser field is worth investing in to the tune of $68.3 million, as it was just announced today that the company had purchased a controlling interest in Chinese company Shenzhen 7Road Technology Co. The acquisition is intended to complete on June 30th, with up to $32 million more up for grabs if Shenzhen 7Road manages to meet certain performance milestones through the end of next year. While there's plenty of reason to speculate about what this means for the future, it's certainly interesting to note that a free-to-play game developer is making such a large investment in a browser company -- an action that could have long-term ramifications for both present and future games.
The Tattered Notebook: Merge this!
Server mergers are coming this week to EverQuest II, and with it come some serious questions about what stays, what goes, and who gets stuck with a name with a lousy X at the end. But sometimes mergers are a good thing, and I think since we're on the subject, it's worth looking at what else could be merged in the world of Norrath. In this week's Tattered Notebook, I'll consider how merging tokens, towns, classes, gods, guild halls and more could benefit EQII. Join me past the cut!
Nexon acquires NDOORS Interactive
It's not quite as stunning as the earlier announcement regarding Turbine and Warner Bros, but for the free-to-play world a big shakeup has taken place. Nexon, known for MapleStory, Mabinogi, and the upcoming Vindictus among others, has acquired a controlling share of NDOORS Interactive, known principally for Atlantica Online. The deal was announced in Korea late Monday evening, with Nexon explaining that they had acquired 67% of the company's shares including those of the former chairman, Seung-Mun Kwon. Nexon CEO Su-Min was quite pleased about the acquisition, stating that the addition of the technical expertise and experience of the NDOORS team would help with the company's long-term plans and global expansion. There's no word yet on what this will mean for the operation of Atlantica Online in the US and elsewhere, although it's reasonable to assume that Nexon would likely consolidate their operations. We'll have more for you on this story as it develops and as further details come to light.
Apple flush with cash and ready to buy
Got a company you're trying to sell? Apple might have a check with your name on it -- BusinessWorld reports that they're in the mood for picking up some new businesses lately. Even after high profile acquisitions like LaLa and Quattro Wireless, Apple's still got plenty of cash in the bank, and they're looking to buy. BW points to the hire of Adrian Perica, a former Goldman Sachs banker, as the company's "first dedicated M&A specialist," and says that with Perica on board, Apple's looking to get the jump on rivals like Google and pick up some new technology and talent via acquisition. So what kind of companies will they be picking up? Apple is a company that's always on the move. While the Mac market is strong, they seem to have realized that their main strength lies in breaking new ground, from music players to smartphones, and so they'll likely pick up companies slightly different from their current core products. They also have a history of buying smaller companies, so you probably won't see them do gigantic merger deals. Rather, they'll find a company working on a new tech that interests them, and then just swallow the little firm whole (see Cover Flow and any number of their other pickups in the last decade). So if your ten-person company is working on, say, a revolutionary new tablet control scheme, or a new category of personal computing, that knocking on your door might be Apple with a truckload of money. [via MacRumors]
Mythic's Mark Jacobs leaves EA
Mark Jacobs, the former General Manager of Mythic Entertainment and Lead Designer of Warhammer Online, has left EA on 23rd June, the company announced today. This comes as part of restructuring plans within EA which includes both Mythic and BioWare and have culminated in the formation of a new, as-yet-unnamed, studio which will focus on RPGs and MMOs. The new studio will be led by BioWare co-founder and General Manager Ray Muzyka, who will become Group General Manager. BioWare's other co-founder Greg Zeschuk will become Group Creative Officer while Rob Denton will succeed Jacobs as General Manager.You can certainly expect more from us as this story develops.[Via The Examiner]
Officers' Quarters: Overruled
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Who knows what's best for a guild, its leader or its members? It's an interesting question. The guild leader certainly has the best perspective on all guild issues (or she should, anyway). But it is her job to keep the members happy. So if the members are against something, should you allow them to overrule you? What if you as an officer think the members are wrong? This week's e-mail comes from a reader who did what his members wanted him to do, but thinks he might have made a mistake.Hey Scott. I'm the GM of a reasonably successful guild who have gotten to Sarth 2d and working on 3d in 25 man raids, so there's not a lot left to do. Back in mid January we were successfully [running three Heroic raids] a week. However some classes were very tight and for the 25 man we had maybe 27 signups and not all of the 'right' class balance, but 'good enough' for Naxx etc. We had the opportunity to take in approximately 10 good raiders [. . .] with whom some of us (including myself) had played in the past and [whose] attitude matched very closely to our own. With those 10 raiders there were approximately 10 other people who did not want to raid with RL commitments but still enjoyed playing WoW etc. The Officers were largely in favor of taking them on, our class leaders had some concerns, but generally thought it was a good idea. So we took the idea to the guild as a whole who were largely against the merger.
Ubisoft failed at courting Cryptic before the Atari takeover
According to CFO Alain Martinez, Ubisoft was also looking into acquiring Cryptic before Atari stepped in and inked a deal. Though they are disappointed at having missed this opportunity, there seems to be no shortage of acquisition options. Martinez states that they are looking at taking over two to three small companies in the next few months, but details of what products this may involve are unknown.Ubisoft has been busy advertising their latest console-and-PC title, Prince of Persia, for the holiday season and working on Assassin's Creed 2 - currently expected to be released in fiscal year 2010. CEO Yves Guillemot states they are planning to launch online game products in 2009, but says the experience will be more casual than the expansive Cryptic titles like Champions Online and Star Trek Online. This would have been one giant leap in moving to the MMO model.
Vivendi is dead, long live Activision-Blizzard
Okay, so we've been waiting for this moment for a few months. The waiting probably hasn't involved breathless anticipation or anything, but there's definitely been waiting. It's now official, and there's very little to go wrong -- Vivendi is merging with Activision, destroying the Vivendi Games name in favor of the new entity: Activision-Blizzard.Activision shareholders (and a little regulation-fu) were the only hold ups to the process. Today, Activision shareholders voted 92% in favor of merging with Vivendi. Which means that 8% voted against the deal -- I have to wonder what they were thinking. The old Vivendi folks have a 52% control of the new company (called Activision-Blizzard), which is projected to clock over $3.8 billion dollars annually. The close date is tomorrow -- it's still technically possible that an enormous asteroid may fall from the heavens, plunging the entirety of the Earth into a post-nuclear wasteland. Or, zombies could attack. Maybe Zombie Murlocs, with their own MySpace accounts. But short of a Murloc invasion (I, for one, welcome our new Mrlglglglge overlords), there's nothing left for the merger but for the fat lady to sing.
Rumor: Sony Ericsson to buy HTC. HTC: nope, it's untrue.
So the backstory goes something like this: Swedish publication Elektroniktidningen were looking forward to a meeting with HTC, but the meeting was delayed due to talks of some sort of merger with Sony Ericsson. Everyone panicked: Could HTC be bought by Sony Ericsson? They've already worked together on the Xperia X1, so it could be possible, right? Not so much, according to HTC. Word from them is that this whole this is a bunch of hooey. According to HTC's spokesperson, "This is just a rumor and there is no truth to this statement." For now we're moving along.
Officers' Quarters: Filling the void
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Sometimes, real life can catch up to your guild leader. It's a big job that definitely cuts into time that may be spent doing other things, especially if he or she has a family. When your leader resigns from the position, how does your guild fill that void of power? This week's e-mail comes from someone who wants to step up and assume leadership. Dear Officers' Quarters. My guild is jammed. We had some people quit because of RL issues over Christmas, which then saw an outflux of people because we couldn't raid for class balance. So now, we're reduced to doing Kara with 4 paladins, some dps and a singe priest. Our MT burnt out and GQuit and we've gone from exploring SSC to lost and confused. The current GM is [. . .] quite frankly, tired of being in charge. There's another guy who's put up his hand for taking on the role, but isn't really doing anything about taking the load off, so I've volunteered if nothing happens soon. I've never GMed before, so I'm in a bit of a quandary – there are so few resources available!
Sega: We're not interested in a buyout, thanks
Apparently, one merger per decade is enough for Sega. Despite falling on some tough financial times recently, Sega has declared that it is decidedly not interested in getting bailed out by some generous big-time buyout (not that anyone else was necessarily interested, mind you).In an interview with Reuters, Sega Sammy CEO Simon Jeffrey said his company isn't eager to ride the industry's recent wave of consolidation. "That's not an area we want to play in right now," he said. "We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now."Buoyed by extremely strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Jeffrey seems perfectly content with his company's current sixth-place position in the game publisher rankings. "There is plenty of room for smaller companies to be successful and profitable in this business," he said. "You don't have to be number one or number two. You can be number six very happily," Jeffrey said. Chant along with us everybody: We're number six! We're number six!
Iomega buying ExcelStor, becoming $1 billion company
In an acquisition that promises to create a combined company with over $1 billion in annual revenue, storage manufacturer Iomega has "entered into a definitive share purchase agreement" with ExcelStor Great Wall Technology Limited -- another storage firm headquartered in Beijing but doing business out of the Cayman Islands. ExcelStor, a subsidiary of the $2.6 billion Great Wall Technology Company Limited, has been manufacturing certain external hard drives for Iomega since 2004. The deal, still subject to approval, would create an organization with a 3,000-member workforce, led by Iomega's current executives joined by former ExcelStor management in the positions of Executive Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer.
EU to investigate TomTom / Tele Atlas deal
The European Commission has just opened an investigation into TomTom's proposed purchase of Tele Atlas, claiming that consumers could be hurt by a GPS hardware maker owning one of the two major digital map providers. Specifically, the so-called "in-depth inquiry," which will be concluded no later than April 17th of next year, stems from "serious doubts that the acquisition by TomTom of Tele Atlas might...lead to a significant impediment of effective competition within the EEA." With Nokia going after NAVTEQ and Garmin having given up on Tele Atlas, this investigation clearly makes sense from the free market standpoint, as the Dutch firm is not likely to slip past without at least committing to fair map licensing terms for other PND manufacturers. In response to the Commission's announcement, TomTom decided to extend its offer for shares of Tele Atlas until March 31st, 2008, with the option to issue another extension if certain conditions are not met.[Thanks, Daniel]
Officers' Quarters: Dark pacts, Part 2
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Two weeks ago, Officers' Quarters presented Part 1 of an in-depth look at guild alliances -- how to avoid all the negativity and actually make them work. I talked about assessing compatibility, communicating, and keeping your finger on the pulse of your own members' feeling about the other guild. This week, we'll talk about leadership roles, loot rules, and more!
Officers' Quarters: When guilds fracture
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. For some people, it is the fundamental question of Warcraft: friends -- or progression? Some people are lucky enough to be able to play the game with their friends and meet their in-game goals at the same time. This week's question is from an officer who has been able to live that dream but now has to choose between them after his guild splits apart. Hey Scott, My guild just recently went through a bit of a break up, and as one of the founding members/officers of the guild, I'm a bit uncertain of how to help handle things. Apparently this split had been near inevitable with a leadership (though not filled with ill will) clash between the shared guild leaders. Our guild had integrated a larger guild into our fold, and the split has largely fallen back on those old lines. The problem is, the original guild was started with my real life friends, so obviously there's an amount of loyalty there. Then again, I've made a few good friends from the incoming (and now outgoing) guild as well. I see my real life friends often enough, and I know the smaller guild would have both its upsides (namely better organization, a guild leadership I prefer, and a tighter knit group of people) and downsides(such as a lack of instance progression because of the lack of players). I play WoW for both the gameplay and friends, so I feel like I'd be sacrificing one for the other, at least for a while. Is it possible to interact with both, and do so diplomatically? I'm not trying to have my cake and eat it too, but this dissolving of the guild came rather suddenly and I'm at a loss. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ever been (or will be) in this sort of situation before! My thanks and regards, Brandon
