mergers

With its acquisition of VeriSign's authentication business, Symantec is making a big play for a piece of the market for services that validate the identity of users and content on the Web.

The $1.28 billion cash deal--the third encryption-related purchase for Symantec in three weeks--would seem to be a natural extension of its desktop and server security offerings, several analysts said. But other observers question how well suited one of the leading antivirus providers really is to become the identity broker for the Internet.

"Where's the synergy?" wondered Avivah Litan, an analyst at Gartner, … Read more

SAP said on Wednesday that it plans to buy Sybase in an all-cash deal valued at about $5.8 billion.

The German software maker said it will pay $65 a share, a 44 percent premium to the average trading price of Sybase over the past three months. The board of Dublin, Calif.-based Sybase has unanimously approved the deal, but the deal still requires regulatory and shareholder approval.

"With this transaction, SAP will dramatically expand its addressable market by making available its market-leading solutions to hundreds of millions of mobile users, combining the world's best business software with … Read more

Another day, another Apple acquisition.

On Wednesday, an application developer called Siri confirmed to the Business Insider blog that it had been acquired by Apple. There were no details about the transaction available.

Siri's main product is a mobile virtual personal assistant that allows users of the iPhone or iPod Touch, to ask questions about finding consumer goods, services, or destinations. The company developed out of an artificial intelligence project at SRI International, and was financed by DARPA.

The free iPhone app lets users speak or type questions, such as "What's a romantic place for dinner?" … Read more

A month after the rumors first started flying, Apple finally confirmed that it has indeed purchased Intrinsity, a Texas-based chipmaker.

Apple confirmed the acquisition on Tuesday to The New York Times, though it did not disclose the purchase price or what Apple's plans for Intrinsity are. One guess has the value at $121 million.

It's the second chipmaker purchased by Apple in two years starting with P.A. Semi, which it bought for $278 million. It's also the fourth acquisition Apple has made since last fall; it bought map API maker PlaceBase in October, social music site LaLa … Read more

CenturyTel agreed to buy Qwest Communications International in a $10.6 billion all-stock deal, the companies announced Thursday. CenturyTel will also assume $11.8 billion of Qwest debt, making the merger worth about $22.4 billion, one of the biggest in telecom history.

Qwest and CenturyTel are two of the biggest landline phone companies in the country, with combined network assets in about 40 states. The deal comes as Qwest, which abandoned its wireless efforts years ago, has struggled to keep up competitively with other former Baby Bell companies AT&T and Verizon Communications. While these companies do not … Read more

Iron Mountain said Monday that it is picking up Mimosa Systems in a deal worth $112 million.

Mimosa specializes in enterprise content archiving systems. Iron Mountain focuses on data archiving, e-discovery and information management.

According to the companies, the plan is to use Mimosa's NearPoint software, which operates inside the corporate firewall to archive SharePoint data and files, to create a suite of information management services.

Iron Mountain is building an on-site and cloud-based portfolio to manage information to the point where it is destroyed.

Mimosa Systems CEO T.M. Ravi will become chief marketing officer for Iron Mountain … Read more

Comcast and NBC Universal executives went to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to answer lawmakers' questions about the proposed deal for Comcast to buy a controlling stake in the media and network TV giant.

In separate subcommittee hearings, lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate questioned Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker. Specifically, they asked how the $37 billion proposed merger between the nation's largest cable company and the TV network and movie studio would affect consumers' cable prices, the budding online TV business, and the distribution of cable and broadcast … Read more

On2 Technologies has filed an update with the SEC on its proposed merger with Google, hoping to put to rest some key questions.

On2, which makes video compression software, announced Monday that the update includes certain key highlights about the merger and some frequently asked questions.

On2 agreed on August 5 to be acquired by Google for $106.5 million, a deal already approved by its board of directors. The terms call for each share of On2 to be exchanged for 60 cents worth of Google common stock.

With its board anxious for investors to approve the deal, On2 outlined some of the risks … Read more

Come early December, Oracle will meet with European Commission regulators to urge their approval of its merger with Sun Microsystems. "Two people with knowledge of the matter" tell Reuters that "Oracle has asked for a hearing which has been fixed for December 10."

Should make for an interesting meeting given Oracle's refusal to take the EC's concerns about the future of Sun's MySQL database seriously. Certainly, it's difficult to imagine Oracle caving to the Commission's demands when it has criticized the group's findings as a "profound misunderstanding" of … Read more