AT&T must be pretty sure that its much-criticized proposed merger with T-Mobile will go through, because if regulators block the deal it will be out $6 billion. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Yep, Microsoft Bought Skype For $8.5 Billion
By 5.10.11
The rumor was true, Microsoft has purchased Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. The Wall Street Journal says the deal will allow the company to integrate Skype into everything from its Bing search engine to Windows smartphones and its Xbox 360 video game system. [More]
Report: Microsoft Close To Buying Skype For $8 Billion
By 5.10.11
What do you do when you’ve got $8 billion burning a hole in your pocket? If you’re Microsoft, you head to the corner store and pick yourself up a Skype. A report says the software giant is on the verge of completing a mega-deal to turn itself into a more formidable player in online video communication. [More]
Report: Twitter Takes TweetDeck Under Its Wing For $40-$50 Million
By 5.4.11
Twitter has apparently won the bidding war for TweetDeck, an app available on computers and smartphones that allows users more control over their Twitter accounts. The rising social networking giant will have to dip deep into its pockets to swallow up the supplementary service, paying between $40 million and $50 million, according to a report. [More]
Procter & Gamble Sells Off Pringles For $1.5 Billion
By 4.6.11
Procter & Gamble continued its move away from the food industry, selling Pringles canned potato chips to Diamond Foods Inc. In recent years, P&G has rid itself of Folgers Coffee, Jif peanut butter, Sunny Delight orange drink and other food properties. [More]
Walgreens Does Some Online Shopping, Picks Up Drugstore.com For $429 Million
By 3.24.11
After taking over New York City with its purchase of Duane Reade drugstores last year, Walgreens has made a move to dominate the online market with its plan to buy Drugstore.com for around $429 million. [More]
NBCUniversal Employees Won't Get Comcast Stock Gifts For 5 Years
By 3.24.11
Remember when NBCUniversal granted employees 25 shares of the company following the Comcast merger as a gesture of good will? Well, it turns out the gift wasn’t as generous as it seemed. [More]
Consumers Union: Hard To See Benefit Of AT&T And T-Mobile Deal
By 3.21.11
As we wrote yesterday, telecom giant AT&T is planning to pay $39 billion to acquire competing mobile carrier T-Mobile USA. And while the Death Star stands to benefit from the inherited 30 million subscribers and expanded network it will inherit, is there anything to be gained by the cellphone-using public? [More]
AT&T To Purchase T-Mobile USA For $39 Billion, 1000 Rollover Minutes
By 3.20.11
AT&T Wireless has made its next move in the race against Verizon for nationwide mobile phone domination: it’s acquiring fellow GSM carrier T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom for a combination of cash and AT&T stock currently valued at $39 billion. DT will then have an 8% stake in AT&T, and AT&T will gain 33.7 million current T-Mobile USA customers. [More]
Twitter: Google Isn't Trying To Buy Us For $10 Billion
By 2.14.11
It was recently reported that Google is in the market to buy Twitter and that the price tag floating around for the company was somewhere in the $8-10 billion range. But today, Twitter’s CEO denied those reports — sort of. [More]
Is Twitter Worth $10 Billion?
By 2.10.11
A lot of people expressed surprise at the $315 million purchase of Huffington Post by AOL. But that’s nothing compared to the figures Facebook and Google are reportedly considering ponying up to acquire Twitter. [More]
AOL To Buy Huffington Post For $315 Million
By 2.7.11
In an effort to put more original content on its network — and ad revenue in its pockets — AOL announced today that it will be purchasing popular news and opinion site HuffingtonPost.com for a princely sum of around $315 million. [More]
I Don't Want To Give Up My Droid X For Forced Switch To AT&T
By 10.22.10
Nick is one of the current Verizon customers whose contract has been transferred to AT&T due to Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel. He writes that he would be okay with this if AT&T actually offered a phone comparable to his current Droid X, and if he didn’t have to pay $200 for the sort-of-comparable phone they’re offering, the Samsung Captivate. [More]
Barnes & Noble Wants To Sell Itself, But Who's Gonna Buy It?
By 8.4.10
Barnes & Noble shares are soaring after it announced that it was up for sale and may even go private, or merge with Borders. [More]
Alltel Merger Forces Verizon Customer To Have AT&T… What?
By 7.9.10
If you’re an Alltel or Verizon customer you may have read that the companies are merging. In order for Verizon to acquire Alltel it had to agree to sell some of its assets to AT&T. That means that reader Scott now has a contract with AT&T. He hates AT&T. [More]
Al Franken Hates The NBC/Comcast Merger More Than Anyone Has Ever Hated Anything
By 6.24.10
Former NBC employee and current US Senator, Al Franken, has filed an 11-page letter of concern with the FCC stating that he “firmly believe[s] that the ComcastINBCU merger should be rejected. The harms caused by this merger are significant and long lasting. No set of promises or conditions, no matter how well-intentioned, can sufficiently mitigate those harms.” [More]
Cablevision Acquires Smallish Cable Company Called Bresnan
By 6.14.10
Cablevision, a small but deeply hated cable company in New York City, has shelled out $1.4B for an even smaller company that owns systems in Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming. Analysts studying the deal were described as “cautious” because it appears to make no sense. [More]
