Takeover -- Engadget

Samsung says it's absolutely not pursuing SanDisk any longer, just listening to Blood on the Tracks for no reason

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 5th 2009 at 11:51PM

Not sure why Samsung felt the need to reassure investors and the SEC that it's no longer pursuing SanDisk after its buyout offer was withdrawn back in November, but here we are, reading about it in the Wall Street Journal. Apparently the two companies signed a patent-licensing agreement in May, so we'd imagine that's kept lines of communication open -- but we have to warn you, Sammy: getting off that friends ladder ain't exactly easy. Maybe it's time to move on, you know?

Is Microsoft finally close to snatching up RIM?

by Darren Murph posted Oct 10th 2008 at 9:33AM

Funny story -- we pretty much heard this exact same rumor floating around last August, but given the current economic situation, we're inclined to believe this one a good bit more. A recent Reuters report is pointing out that RIM (like practically every other company right about now) is ripe for the picking, and any outfit with a serious load of cash reserves could get themselves quite a bargain. Given that the Redmond mega-corp has shown interest before (and clearly has plenty of Greenbacks), we were particularly interested in Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek's quote: "I'm fairly certain [Microsoft] has a standing offer to buy [RIM] at $50 a share." If you'll recall, RIM's stock sat at $148 per share just four months ago, and now, it's hovering around $60. As expected, Microsoft had no comment on the report, but don't be surprised to see something go down if Wall Street keeps hemorrhaging.

[Via Electronista]

Samsung makes a hostile bid for SanDisk

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 16th 2008 at 6:13PM

We'd heard rumors Samsung was wooing SanDisk, but it looks like the four-month courtship is over -- Samsung just announced that in response to SanDisk's "unrealistic expectations" during negotiations, it's going hostile and will offer $26/share for the company. That's bound to cause some waves in the storage industry, especially since Toshiba and Seagate were also rumored to be interested in SanDisk. We'll see what happens -- things always get a little crazy when there's nearly six billion dollars in cash on the table.

[Thanks, Marshall84]

Update: SanDisk's board rejected the bid unanimously, saying the bid undervalues the company and is, like, totally uncool, man.

Read - WSJ article
Read - Samsung letter to SanDisk

Microsoft and Yahoo! restart talks

by Joshua Topolsky posted May 18th 2008 at 6:02PM

Yes -- they're at it again. Please for the love of all that is sacred, let somebody buy something... quick. From the horse's mouth;

"In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business. Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo!"

[Via Emiliano]

Swarm robotics project further ensures our doom

by Darren Murph posted May 15th 2008 at 2:02PM

Much to our dismay, this isn't the first swarm project that really makes us wonder how long humans will be running things on Planet Earth. MIT's own James McLurkin was recently down in Austin, Texas showing off a dozen or so of his hundred (is that even legal?) robots. The group was reportedly able to spread out, clump together, play follow the leader and circle the wagons, all of which were just ploys to distract us from seeing precisely how much they really know. Each of the appropriately-titled SwarmBots featured eight AA batteries, a 1.1-watt speaker, behavior LEDs, a radio, camera and an IR communications system. For those curious, each one cost around $2,000 to build, but Mr. McLurkin suggested that these were a bargain compared to typical research bots. It's all about perspective, baby.

[Via Futurismic]

Blockbuster offers to buy, um, Circuit City: digital downloads be damned!

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 14th 2008 at 6:20AM

Huh? Blockbuster just made public its February 17th offer to purchase Circuit City for $6 to $8 per share. As of this morning, Circuit city has not provided the requested due diligence necessary to move the deal forward. As such, Blockbuster is pulling a Microsoft and making the proposal public in hopes of inciting shareholders. They've even gone so far as to publish an open letter from Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes to Phil Schoonover, CEO of Circuit City. Really, is this how all corporate affairs will be conducted in the future guys? What really boggles the mind though is Blockbuster's quest for even more brick-and-mortar as digital downloads begin to take off. Hit the read link for the full contents of the letter.

[Via I4U]

Yahoo responds to Microsoft ultimatum: more money please

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 7th 2008 at 6:37AM

As expected, Yahoo has responded to Microsoft's 3 week ultimatum this morning. The bottom line is pretty clear in a letter signed by Jerry Yang (CEO) and Roy Bostock (chairman). In the "Dear Steve" response to Ballmer they state, "we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value." They go on to state that, "We consider your threat to commence an unsolicited offer and proxy contest to displace our independent Board members to be counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective of a friendly transaction." Make no mistake about it, this is corporate war and will likely end with Yahoo's best engineers working for Google.

Iomega warming to revised EMC takeover bid

by Darren Murph posted Mar 18th 2008 at 8:40AM

Just a week ago, Iomega turned up its nose at an offer from EMC to buyout the firm for $3.25 per share. Now, however, it's singing a somewhat different tune as EMC has struck back with an entirely more succulent offer of $3.75 per share. Said bid puts a $205.5 million value on Iomega -- based on the 54.8 million shares it has outstanding -- and now it's being reported that "Iomega will enter into discussions with EMC that could lead to a definitive acquisition proposal." Go on you two, don't hold back on those feelings any longer.

Logitech CEO shrugs off Microsoft takeover rumors, causing more rumors

by Thomas Ricker posted Mar 10th 2008 at 6:31AM

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]

Yahoo! officially spurns Microsoft's advances

by Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 11th 2008 at 10:25AM

Just in case you misunderstood the news from Yahoo!, they don't want Microsoft's money, help, time, or friendship. Officially. In a somewhat related story, Jerry Yang says he's also not interested in a week-long round of brunching with Steve Ballmer. No word yet on whether he's game for a dinner date and coffee with Sergey Brin.

Microsoft to buy Logitech?

by Thomas Ricker posted Jan 10th 2008 at 10:33AM

A rumor swirling about the bowels of the Internets says that Microsoft is about to launch a takeover bid for Swiss-based Logitech. If true, Microsoft, the largest software house in the world would become the world's largest maker of webcams, mice and other peripheral devices. Share prices are surging on speculation that Microsoft will make a takeover bid valued at 48 francs per share, a 38% premium over yesterday's closing price. Our take? We're pretty skeptical. Both companies have been extraordinarily successful without each other. And at first take, the union seems to offer neither company any advantage in the market. Perhaps the rumor mill confused Logitech with Japan's Logitec -- that would make perfect sense. Yeah.

[Thanks, Khattab]

Robotic cockroaches influence, exploit living clans

by Darren Murph posted Nov 16th 2007 at 11:21AM

Strangely enough, we've seen robotic roaches in action before, but a new report focusing on nature's influence on mechanical creatures substantiates some of our worse fears. Apparently, a team of researchers led by Jose Halloy of the University Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium crafted "cockroach-sized robots that interacted with their living counterparts." The critters themselves did not actually resemble cockroaches, but they were doused with chemicals to mimic the authentic aroma; subsequently, these autonomous pests were able to persuade a clan of real roaches to choose a poor (light) shelter over a dark alternative, sparking worry that humanoids may one day use these very tactics to lead us straight to our demise. On the real, the gurus behind the research are looking at the trials to "explore decision-making mechanisms in group-living animals," which when you think about, really isn't any less frightening.

[Image courtesy of ETHZ]

Garmin challenges TomTom with $3.3 billion bid for Tele Atlas

by Darren Murph posted Oct 31st 2007 at 1:37PM

Man, it must feel mighty fantastic to be Tele Atlas right about now. Not even a month after TomTom finalized a whopping $2.5 billion offer to take the map maker over, Garmin -- which currently relies on NAVTEQ maps -- has come out swinging with a staggering $3.3 billion bid of its own. As expected, Tele Atlas is now taking a good hard look at both offers and examining its options, and some analysts are even suggesting that a bidding war could take the figure even higher. 'Course, such a conjecture is easy to make when TomTom has already proclaimed that it would reply in some way "in the near future." Bust out the blank checks -- this one could get ugly (or very pretty, if you're a Tele Atlas shareholder).

Wokka wokka wokka: Acer to acquire Gateway to acquire Packard Bell

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 9th 2007 at 1:39AM

The rumor was spot-on: Gateway has delivered a binding offer to acquire all shares of PB Holding Company S.à.r.l. from Lap Shun (John) Hui and Clifford Holdings Limited. If approved, Acer would nab themselves an improved foothold in Europe as part of their acquisition of Gateway announced back in August. Final regulatory approvals for the three-way love-in are expected before the end of the year or Q1 at the latest.

TomTom reacts to Nokia -- formalizes offer for Tele Atlas

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 2nd 2007 at 6:40AM

Just one day after Nokia offered $8 billion for NAVTEQ, TomTom is in the news with a formal offer for Tele Atlas. Of course, TomTom had already announced their intent to offer €21.25 per share (about $2.56 billion) for the map maker back in July -- the same amount tendered today. Back then the offer represented a sweet 32% premium over the average Tele Atlas share price. However, Tele Atlas is now trading above the offer price thanks to speculation caused by the Nokia deal. We say hold out for more Tele Atlas. Just hint at discussions with Nokia or Garmin and we're pretty sure TomTom will up the ante.

[Thanks, SmartDust]