Looks like there may be a bit of truth to reports that Cisco would rather bail on its proposed acquisition of Tandberg than raise its bid for the videoconferencing equipment manufacturer. Remarking today on speculation that Cisco would do just that, Ned Hooper, the company’s chief strategy officer, stressed that Cisco “will always act with fiscal prudence” as it pursues Tandberg.
Cisco has a message for Tandberg shareholders pressing the networking giant to raise its $3.04 billion offer for the company: Take it or we’re leaving. Sources tell Bloomberg that Cisco has little intention of meeting the demands of a group of investors who would like it to reach a bit deeper into its wallet before they hand over their 24 percent stake in Tandberg.
Approved without incident by Sun shareholders in July and the U.S. Justice Department in August, Oracle’s planned $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems seemed poised to easily pass muster with European regulators as well. Sadly for Oracle, that’s not how things have played out. Citing “serious concerns” about the deal’s effect on competition in the market for databases, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into it.
The Justice Department’s extended antitrust review of Oracle’s proposed acquisition of Sun apparently turned up few issues of concern. Oracle said this afternoon that regulators have approved the $7.4 billion deal with no restrictions.
Well, this is unexpected. Amazon has agreed to purchase online shoe retailer Zappos.com in a deal valued at about $850 million. Under its terms, the retailer will acquire all outstanding Zappos shares in exchange for roughly 10 million shares of Amazon common stock, valued at about $807 million, and some $40 million in cash and restricted stock. If the shoe fits, right?
The shareholders of Sun Microsystems have given the thumbs-up to the company’s merger agreement with Oracle. At a special meeting Thursday, a 62 percent majority of Sun’s common stock owners–not including CEO Jonathan Schwartz and board chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy, who, oddly, did not attend–approved the deal.
Looks like Sun’s last quarterly report as an independent company will be among the company’s ugliest. Sun, which is to be acquired by Oracle in a $7.4 billion deal, said Tuesday morning that its fiscal fourth-quarter loss will be far steeper than the one Wall Street has been expecting.
Things are starting to look up for Dell–well, as much as they can for a company so beaten into submission by the econalypse. The company said Monday that demand for its products appears to have stabilized and that it expects to report “a slight sequential revenue increase” for its second fiscal quarter, which ends July 31.
Bad news for Sirius XM shareholders hoping for a change in management: Mel Karmazin’s five-year contract as CEO of the satellite radio provider has been extended through December 2012. And he’s been given a raise and new stock options to boot.
Monster has finally put its backdating case to rest. Nary a week after former COO James Treacy was convicted of conspiracy and securities fraud, the online employment search company agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it improperly backdated millions of dollars in stock options.
Emulex dissed and dismissed an unsolicited bid from Broadcom this morning saying it “significantly undervalues Emulex” and is not in the best interests of shareholders. In a blistering letter appended to the rejection announcement, Emulex CEO Paul Folino described Broadcom’s unsolicited $9.25-a-share cash takeover offer as “an opportunistic attempt to take advantage of Emulex’s depressed stock price” in a souring economy.
Sun chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy probably has a good joke or two about the way the company’s acquisition discussions with IBM have gone down, but he won’t he won’t be relating them as CEO any time soon. This afternoon Sun dismissed speculation that McNealy will replace CEO Jonathan Schwartz in the aftermath of the deal’s collapse.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
Spectacular in the bellowing Russian sailor sense of the word …
“If you spell something wrong on your insurance claim, do you really deserve surgery? I don’t think so …”
D is unlike any other executive conference. Since its debut in 2003, D has brought to life the energy and excitement of the digital revolution in an unscripted, upfront and unparalleled way. Read more »
Don't miss a post! Sign up for our Daily Email and get AllThingsD.com delivered each day.
Get columns, blogs and video from D and All Things Digital on your iPhone. Download now »
