Chipping away

Posted by on August 29, 2008

It’s one down and (at least) one to go for AMD. The battered chip maker moved earlier this week to dump its digital TV (DTV) chip business to longtime partner Broadcom. AMD will pocket $193m in cash from the divestiture. Although the unit had been on the block for some time, AMD got a decent [...]

Hiring bankers

Posted by on August 28, 2008

Once thought to be just part of the broader ERP offering, the so-called human capital management (HCM) market has come into its own in recent years. That has meant a few IPOs (going back to when there was a market for the offerings) as well as two or three HCM deals each year worth more [...]

Indian acquirers on the go

Posted by on August 27, 2008

Indian companies are moving up the services value chain. This week Infosys offered $753m for Axon Group, which would be the largest deal ever inked by an Indian systems integrator. Will this be a catalyst for other service providers to make their mark?

Red-zone M&A

Posted by on August 26, 2008

Eastern European Web 2.0 markets continue to flourish, and interest in successful domestic companies is increasing from global competitors. Czech Seznam is rumored to be on the block in what could be the largest Internet deal in the region’s history.

Corporate castoffs

Posted by on August 25, 2008

Look who’s hitting the corporate garage sales these days – other corporations. While divestitures used to go most often straight to private equity shops, more than a few castoff businesses are now finding homes inside new companies. The latest example: AMD’s sale of its digital TV chip division Monday to Broadcom for $193m. Given AMD’s [...]

Big, happy family or favorite child?

Posted by on August 21, 2008

For an executive who learned the ropes from Larry Ellison, Marc Benioff has adopted a very ‘un-Oracle-like’ approach to M&A. Since the company he founded, Salesforce.com, went public in mid-2004, Benioff has inked just five deals. The total shopping bill: less than $100m. Oracle, on the other hand, hardly touches a deal worth less than [...]

Signing off on a deal

Posted by on August 20, 2008

The bear just keeps grumbling – and we don’t mean the bear market. Instead, we’re talking about the all-the-rage bear hugs that companies are giving each other. The latest: Nuance Communications’ $40m unsolicited offer for Zi Corp. (Incidentally, the new hostilities come as a pair of previous unsolicited deals – Cadence Design Systems’ run at [...]

Half-billion-dollar communications division up for grabs

Posted by on August 19, 2008

Newly appointed CEO Jim Bidzos is continuing Bill Roper’s aggressive divestiture plan. We believe he is close to shedding the stagnant yet lucrative Communications Services division.

Rise in social networking deals

Posted by on August 18, 2008

After a trickle of deals in 2007, this year has seen a flood of acquisitions of social networking sites as buyers look to sell advertising and services around these properties. Acquirers have spent some $1.15bn already on networking sites, compared to just $95m in all of 2007. This year’s M&A was boosted by several key [...]

eBay places bid

Posted by on August 15, 2008

EBay has failed repeatedly to break into Asia. In true adherence to the phrase ‘if you can’t beat them, buy them,’ eBay is now attempting to acquire its Korean competitor Gmarket. Will this change eBay’s fortunes?

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