buyouts

Dell buyout deal could happen Monday -- Reuters

Dell may be close to a deal that would take the PC maker private, Reuters reported this morning.

Citing "two people familiar with the matter," the news service reported that the company could announce an agreement as early as Monday. Expectations are that Dell would be bought out by a group led by its CEO and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Later in the day, Reuters published a separate report, also citing two people familiar with the matter, saying that Michael Dell and partners were negotiating with the company at a price of $13 to $14 per … Read more

Microsoft may invest $1B-$3B in Dell buyout -- CNBC

Microsoft may contribute $1 billion to $3 billion to help take Dell private, according to a new report.

CNBC's David Faber, citing sources, said the Redmond, Wash., software giant is in talks with Dell CEO Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners, the private equity firm eyeing a Dell buyout. He noted the investment wouldn't necessarily give Microsoft a significant equity stake in the company, but would help raise the funding needed to complete a deal.

Dell declined to comment, as did Microsoft.

Bloomberg initially reported last week that Dell was looking to go private. The Wall Street Journal later followed with its own report … Read more

Dell eyeing buyout at $13 to $14 a share -- WSJ

Dell is reportedly looking to go private for a total asking price of $22 billion to $25 billion.

The company spoke with private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners about a leveraged buyout on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Citing a "person familiar with the matter," the Journal wrote that the buyout group would include Silver Lake, Dell CEO Michael Dell, and at least one other investor, such as a pension fund or a sovereign wealth fund.

To meet an asking price of $13 to $14 a share, or $22 billion to $25 billion, Silver Lake and the … Read more

Best Buy founder will make buyout offer by tomorrow -- report

Best Buy's Richard Schulze is ready to make his buyout bid for the company he founded.

By the end of this week, Schulze is expected to make a $5 billion to $6 billion offer for Best Buy, the Star Tribune is reporting, citing unidentified sources who claim to have knowledge of his plans. Last week, Schulze reportedly inked deals with private equity firms and bankers to help him finance the deal.

Schulze founded Best Buy in 1966. Over the summer, he submitted plans to buy out Best Buy for between $24 and $26 a share, representing a 36 percent … Read more

Microsoft reportedly in $1 billion deal for Yammer

Microsoft has agreed to acquire business software company Yammer for more than $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The report did not indicate when the acquisition is expected to be announced or completed.

Yammer representatives declined to comment. CNET has also contacted Microsoft for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

San Francisco-based Yammer is sort of like Facebook for companies: employees can post, share, and discuss items. It's become an integral tool for many startups, but it's also big among larger businesses. More than 80 percent of … Read more

Digg rumored to be in buyout talks with the Washington Post

Social news site and Web 2.0 darling Digg is once again rumored to be in talks to be acquired.

The site, which lets users vote up stories that other users and media companies submit to the Web, has reportedly caught the eye of the Washington Post, the Next Web reports.

Citing "tips from multiple sources," TNW offers that Digg "may have found a suitor" with the newspaper company and its WaPo Labs group. That's the same group that currently has its own social news tool with the Social Reader Facebook application.

Both companies have … Read more

Zynga rumored to acquire Draw Something maker OMGPOP

Rumor has it that game maker Zynga is in the running to buy the company OMGPOP, which makes the newest chart-topping game Draw Something.

If the acquisition goes through, it will be Zynga's biggest buyout to date, according the tech news site TechCrunch, which spoke to sources with direct knowledge of discussions between the two companies.

"Given that OMGPOP has raised around $17 million to date," TechCrunch reporter Kim-Mai Cutler wrote in an article speculating about the acquisition. "I'd expect the price for this deal to be in the $150 [million] to $250 million range.&… Read more

RIM hires Goldman Sachs to field buyout offers?

Talk of Research In Motion being acquired just won't go away. But this time, it might be RIM's fault.

The BlackBerry maker has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it field potential buyout offers, according to the rumor mill on the Wall Street trading floor. According to Reuters, one unidentified trader said yesterday that RIM is "up on Goldman," but cautioned that it doesn't mean a sale is coming anytime soon.

Even so, all that speculation was enough to see RIM's shares jump over 5 percent yesterday to settle at $16.44. It … Read more

Silver Lake offers $16.60 per share for Yahoo stake, report says

Investment firm Silver Lake has offered Yahoo $16.60 per share to buy a minority stake in the online giant, Bloomberg is reporting, citing sources.

Silver Lake seems unwilling to bet too much on Yahoo, though. Yahoo's stock closed yesterday at $15.70. If Yahoo accepts the deal, it would be agreeing to a paltry 6 percent premium on its stock price and a valuation of about $20.6 billion.

That said, Bloomberg's sources also said that Silver Lake has been outbid by another offer from investment firm TPG Capital. The sources didn't say how much TPG … Read more

New wrinkle in Yahoo rumors: A leveraged buyout

If you don't have a scorecard handy, it might be difficult to remember all the companies vying for a part of Yahoo. From Silver Lake Partners to Microsoft, it seems just about every company with cash is considering buying a stake in the online giant. And now, add one more to the list.

Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) has its eye on Yahoo's U.S. operations, Reuters is reporting today, citing sources. However, unlike some firms that want to bid for Yahoo's business, THL is eying a leveraged buyout that could cost it between $5 billion and $… Read more