acquisitions

Amazon in talks to acquire Brazilian bookseller, report says

Amazon is considering acquiring a Brazil-based bookseller, according to a new report.

The e-retail giant is currently in talks with Saraiva to acquire the bookseller, Bloomberg is reporting today, citing sources. The publication's sources did not divulge how much Amazon would be willing to pay for Saraiva.

Amazon has been rumored for months to be considering an acquisition in Brazil, and Saraiva's name has been floated before as a possible acquisition target. The acquisition could give Amazon a foothold in Brazil, Latin America's biggest economy, and help the company expand its Kindle efforts in that area.

Saraiva, … Read more

Apple snaps up celebrity-backed Web app firm Particle

Call it an "acqui-hire."

Apple has snapped up Particle, a San Francisco-based creative consulting company that specializes in Web applications and marketing projects using HTML5, CNET has learned.

Particle was founded in early 2008 and has some celebrity financial backing. Pop star-turned-actor Justin Timberlake is an investor and helped fund short social video service Robo.to, which Particle created. Sources with knowledge of the deal did not know the selling price.

The company has done HTML5 work for Google, Motorola, Amazon, Yahoo, Sony, and Apple. The group has also created some "labs" projects including Intervue.me, … Read more

Twitter buys mobile-app maker Cabana

Twitter has made another acquisition to expand its app-development capabilities, the company confirmed in a tweet.

The company bought Cabana, a startup that provides technology to create mobile apps. Twitter likely made the acquisition in part to bulk up its staff focused on that area as Cabana's staff will be joining Twitter today, while its service will be shut down December 1.

Cabana said in a blog post that it will be working with Twitter's platform team "to build tools to help third-party developers create new experiences on Twitter and empower the larger Twitter ecosystem."

Terms … Read more

Google confirms it's buying facial recognition firm Viewdle

The rumors have been confirmed, Google's Motorola Mobility is indeed acquiring the facial recognition technology company Viewdle.

"Motorola Mobility today announced that it has acquired Viewdle, a leading imaging & gesture recognition company," a Motorola spokesperson told CNET today. "Motorola and Viewdle have an existing commercial agreement and have been collaborating for some time. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed."

CNET reported on Monday that Google was about to close a deal to buy Viewdle, which is a Ukrainian maker of facial recognition technology that automatically tags photos. Apparently the acquisition had been in … Read more

Game maker A Bit Lucky wins over Zynga

Zynga said today that it is acquiring A Bit Lucky, a developer of multiplatform games, as it expands its repertoire.

A Bit Lucky's 20-plus employees in San Mateo, California, will become part of Zynga's office in San Francisco, where they will continue working on Solstice Arena, Zynga said.

The acquisition, whose terms were not disclosed, follows on the heels of Zynga's hiring of John Tobias, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series, as creative director.

The news follows the recent departure of some key Zynga executives, including the chief marketing officer, the chief technology officer of infrastructure, and … Read more

Hootsuite swoops in on Seesmic

Social media manager Hootsuite has acquired its one-time rival Seesmic, and it hopes Seesmic's customers are ready to come on board.

The Seesmic brand will eventually fade away as Hootsuite decides which of the social media client's features best fit Hootsuite's goals, the company revealed today. That means Seesmic users will have to switch over to Hootsuite in order to access their Seesmic accounts.

"We've always been big fans of Ryan Holmes and the HootSuite team, since the days we were all pioneering the Social Media landscape," Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur said in a statement. &… Read more

Facebook acquires social aggregator Threadsy

Threadsy, a social aggregator that was pronounced dead earlier this year, is being acquired by Facebook.

Swaylo, a service run by Threadsy, revealed today that once the deal goes through, the general public will no longer have access to Swaylo's free services. Swaylo's ranking system lets people see how influential they are when they post or share information on social networks.

Facebook confirmed the acquisition to CNET but would not comment further.

"This is incredibly exciting for us," CEO Rob Goldman wrote in a blog post. "We built Swaylo because we believe Facebook and other … Read more

Barry Diller gets into bidding war for About.com, report says

Barry Diller, one of the premiere dealmakers in media, has bid $300 million for struggling About.com, The New York Times' information Web site, according to Reuters.

The offer from Diller's holding company, IAC/Interactivecorp, is about $30 million higher than a rival bid from Answers.com, Reuters reported.

The Times announced on August 8 that it was in discussions about selling its About Group but didn't identify the interested parties. Answers.com President Peter Horan is the former head of About.com.

About.com is designed to be a guide for Internet users and offers tips, advice, … Read more

Facebook looks to California law to speed up Instagram payout

Drawing upon a little-known California law, Facebook is reportedly looking to hasten the payout of its Instagram purchase.

Typically with deals like this companies have to first register with the Securities and Exchange Commission but if the social network is able to use the California law it could save the company time and money. Only six states, including California, allow for this SEC exemption.

According to the Financial Times (subscription required), Facebook has scheduled an August 29 "fairness hearing" with the California Department of Corporations in San Francisco to discuss the terms and conditions of the proposed payout.… Read more