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MarketWatch
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Mar 18, 08 6:24 PM CDT
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Yahoo today restated its opinion that Microsoft’s $44.6 billion buyout bid underestimates the online giant’s “combination of unique assets,” but for the first time stated publicly the strengths it would bring to the Microsoft merger, MarketWatch reports. In an investor presentation for the SEC, the company argued it would take Microsoft "from sub-scale position to strong positions in search and display."
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Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Mar 18, 08 9:55 AM CDT
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Merger talks between Delta and Northwest appear to be headed for a hard landing after pilots for the carriers called off their own negotiations over seniority issues, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The airlines boards will meet this week to decide whether the merger should go forward, but Delta's CEO is on record saying it hinges on the pilots' agreement.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 17, 08 1:03 PM CDT
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Deutsche Telekom plans to buy a 20% stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) of Greece, for $3.92 billion. The deal is conditional on the German carrier getting management control, and the company will open talks immediately with the Greek government, the only larger shareholder. The OTE stake will let Europe’s biggest telephone company expand into Eastern Europe, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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BBC
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Mar 17, 08 3:07 AM CDT
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Embattled Italian airline Alitalia has accepted a severely discounted buyout from Air France, the BBC reports. The $1.17-billion deal, which includes both the airline and its debt, sees Air France take over the Italian carrier at 81% below company's current share price. Alitalia has been in the red for the past five years, and failed to find a buyer at auction last year.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 16, 08 6:35 PM CDT
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JP Morgan has agreed tonight to buy Bear Stearns for a scant $2 a share, a bargain-basement price—stock closed at $30 a share—that demonstrates the urgency of staving off the collapse of the venerable investment bank and widespread panic in financial markets, the AP reports. The Bush administration and Federal Reserve have reportedly approved the all-stock sale, which was rushed today under federal oversight to avoid Stearns filing for bankruptcy, the New York Times reports.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 15, 08 3:38 PM CDT
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What's next for Bear Stearns? A Wall Street institution for the better part of a century, it is now scrambling to find a buyer. Its best hope is JP Morgan, which provided a temporary lifeline yesterday along with the Fed. But other possible suitors include Citibank and HSBC, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a sign of the times, the Journal notes that Bear's single biggest asset might be its building—the Madison Avenue digs could fetch $1.2 billion.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 14, 08 8:38 AM CDT
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For the first time since Microsoft made an unsolicited—and unwelcome—$44.6 billion bid to take over Yahoo Jan. 31, executives for the two companies sat down this week to discuss what a post-merger company might look like, reports the Wall Street Journal. No negotiations took place, the Journal notes. Microsoft officials pitched their vision, and Yahoo officials mostly listened.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 13, 08 1:46 PM CDT
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AOL will buy Bebo.com for $850 million in an attempt to enter the social networking market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bebo has 22 million unique visitors a month, well behind MySpace's 109 million, but the site’s strong European presence will give AOL access to key youth demographics outside the US. The move comes amidst reports of internal turmoil and a possible sale of the Time Warner subsidiary.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 13, 08 10:21 AM CDT
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Electronic Arts is renewing its $2 billion bid to take over rival Take-Two Interactive—but this time the offer will go directly to the video game maker's shareholders, in a sign the potential deal may be turning hostile, reports the Wall Street Journal. EA’s initial offer was rejected by Take-Two management, who said it undervalued the company, even though the $26 per share represented a 50% premium at the time.
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New York Times
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Mar 5, 08 9:13 AM CST
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Yahoo may postpone its annual meeting to delay a proxy battle with Microsoft, reports the New York Times . The move would temporarily fend off a hostile takeover bid by the computer giant, and buy Yahoo some time to weigh its options, including a negotiated deal with Microsoft and a merger or joint venture with Time Warner’s AOL. Microsoft’s bid currently is worth $41.2 billion.
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Financial Times (UK)
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Mar 4, 08 2:43 AM CST
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The map of Europe's car and truck industry is set to be redrawn with Porsche's likely takeover of Volkswagen, the Financial Times reports. Porsche's board voted to boost the sports car manufacturer's stake in Volkswagen to more than 50% yesterday, only hours after Volkswagen said it would buy a controlling interest in Swedish truck company Scania. The combined $225 billion company would be the biggest car and truck firm in Europe.
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Wall Street Journal
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Mar 3, 08 10:48 AM CST
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E*Trade Financial, stung by mortgage- and mortgage-backed securities market losses, is adding CEO to chairman Donald Layton's duties. The company may be dolling itself up for a possible sale by polishing its tarnished image, the Wall Street Journal reports. Since Layton, 57, became chairman in November, the brokerage has rebounded from a $1.7 billion fourth-quarter loss.
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New York Times
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Mar 3, 08 3:30 AM CST
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United Technologies is bidding $3 billion for Diebold, one of the largest manufacturers of ATMs and voting machines. The unsolicited bid is $40 per share, a 66% premium over Diebold’s closing stock price Friday of $24.12, reports the New York Times . The deal would provide an opportunity for United Technologies to expand its electronic security business.
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San Jose Mercury News
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Mar 2, 08 8:18 AM CST
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Yahoo executives, take note: Microsoft is trying to shed its bully reputation in Silicon Valley in favor of a kinder, gentler, hands-off approach to the smaller start-ups it acquires, the San Jose Mercury News says. Company officials want it known that this isn’t your older brother’s Microsoft—the one that suffocated Netscape, intimidated venture capitalists, and allegedly swiped competitors’ ideas.
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