acquisitions

Dropbox snaps up cloud-based photo organizer Snapjoy

Dropbox is continuing to reveal its interest in getting into the online photo sharing space. The latest piece of evidence is the acquisition of Snapjoy, a startup that provides a cloud-based photo library.

For reference, Snapjoy's platform can be used to collect photos from a multiude of online and offline sources (i.e., Flickr, desktops, an iPhone, etc.) to be stored in a cloud-based account. Users can elect to share some or all photos, either via invite to select friends or on social networks.

One of the differences that Snapjoy aimed to convey is that its elegant photo stream … 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

Apple could make bid for map firm TomTom, analyst says

Apple could make a bid for GPS and mapping company TomTom, according to an analyst.

In a note to investors today, Hans Slob, a Netherlands-based analyst at Rabobank International, said he believes there's a 30 percent chance of Apple offering to acquire TomTom. The move, he said, would be designed to quickly handle any troubles Apple could be facing with its Maps iOS application.

"TomTom needs the cash from Apple, and Apple needs the know-how of TomTom," Slob said, according to Bloomberg, which was first to report on the story.

It's not clear if Slob was … Read more

AOL snaps up advertising company Buysight

AOL upped its advertising cache today by announcing that it bought Buysight, an ad company that focuses on retargeted and intent-based targeted advertising.

Buysight will be folded into AOL's Advertising.com Group. This group works on ad technology for desktop, mobile, tablets, and Internet connected televisions.

"We strongly believe that both brand and performance display, as well as mobile and video campaigns benefit from dynamic, targeted creatives and messaging," Advertising.com Group CEO Ned Brody said in a statement. "The acquisition of Buysight brings proven Dynamic Creative Optimization and machine learning capabilities which will further enhance … Read more

Yahoo acquires tiny mobile video-chat startup OnTheAir

Continuing CEO Marissa Mayer's march toward all things mobile, Yahoo has acquired tiny mobile video-chat startup OnTheAir.

Yahoo snapped up the San Francisco-based startup today, the five-employee company announced on its Web site. Yahoo confirmed the acquisition, its second since Mayer took over as chief executive this past July.

"When we first met with the team at Yahoo, it was clear that everybody there is committed to making mobile products the backbone for the world's daily habits," the company wrote.

The mobile market is growing rapidly, and Mayer has said the space is integral to Yahoo'… Read more

Google gets punked by fake news of ICOA acquisition

It's a long ways from April Fools' Day, but someone had a little fun with fake Google acquisition news today.

According to a press release on PRWeb, Google bought Wi-Fi provider ICOA for $400 million. The trouble is the press release isn't real, according to ICOA.

The company's chief financial officer, Erwin Vahlsing Jr., told CNET in an e-mail that the news is false. He didn't provide any other information.

ICOA Chief Executive George Strouthopoulos, meanwhile, told CNET that the company has "never had any discussions with any potential acquirers."

"Someone, I guess … Read more

Cisco nabs cloud-networking start-up Meraki for $1.2 billion

The three colleagues who created the cloud-networking and Wi-Fi startup Meraki at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science six years ago were not expecting to be acquired by Cisco Systems. But the tech giant announced today its intent to buy the startup saying it plans to throw down $1.2 billion in cash, along with retention-based incentives.

"The acquisition of Meraki enables Cisco to make simple, secure, cloud managed networks available to our global customer base of mid-sized businesses and enterprises," Cisco's Enterprise Networking Group senior vice president Rob Soderbery said in a statement. "Meraki's … Read more

Ziff Davis sold off to cloud services provider for $167 million

Ziff Davis, the once-giant technology media company, has been sold off to yet another buyer.

J2 Global, a cloud services provider, announced today that it has acquired Ziff Davis for $167 million in cash. The acquisition includes the purchase of some of Ziff's top Web properties, including PCMag, Computershopper, and Geek.com.

In a statement, J2 Global CEO Hemi Zucker said his company bought Ziff Davis because of its "significant interest in the digital media and online marketing space." Zucker didn't say what J2 Global has planned for Ziff Davis, but it appears for now that … Read more

Priceline names its own price for Kayak: $1.8 billion

Wonder if Priceline Negotiator William Shatner helped broker this deal.

Priceline today says it has agreed to buy rival Kayak for about $1.8 billion, bolstering its online travel shopping presence.

The deal, valuing Kayak at $40 a share, includes $1.3 billion in stock and $500 million in cash and is a 29 percent premium to Kayak's closing price today. The highest the stock has traded in the past year is $37.

The acquisition, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, should close by the end of the first quarter. Kayak will operate independently from the rest of Priceline, … Read more