acquisitions

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

Global alternative asset manager Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire control of Getty Images for $3.3 billion.

According to Carlyle Group, the acquisition will not give it 100 percent ownership in the company. Instead, the asset manager has bought out Getty Images' major owner, private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, giving it a "controlling stake" in the company.

Getty Images co-founder and chairman Mark Getty, along with his family and co-founder and CEO Jonathan Klein, have rolled "substantially all" of their equity into the transaction, effectively making them Carlyle's partners.

Getty Images has been … Read more

Google is once again investing in the travel space.

The search giant is acquiring travel guide provider Frommer's from John Wiley & Sons. It's not immediately clear what Google might have planned for Frommer's, and a purchase price has not been divulged.

Wiley announced earlier this year that it would put Frommer's, which includes everything from travel guides to hotel ratings, on the purchasing block, though the company did not have any potential suitors in mind.

It's not all that surprising that Google has jumped in to swipe Frommer's. The company has been making … Read more

Best Buy founder and ousted chairman Richard Schulze has, as expected, submitted a proposal to acquire the brick-and-mortar retailer.

Under the terms of the deal, Schulze, who owns about 20 percent of Best Buy already, would pay between $24 and $26 per share in cash to the company to acquire the outstanding shares he doesn't own. If Best Buy were to accept the offer, the company would score a premium of 36 percent to 47 percent on its Friday closing price of $17.64.

If Schulze gets his way, he'll take Best Buy from the stock market and … Read more

Rumors swirled recently, suggesting that Lenovo was considering acquiring Nokia. But a Lenovo executive has tossed some cold water on those reports.

Speaking to Reuters, Lenovo's chief for Europe, Mideast, and Africa, Gianfranco Lanci, said that the rumors "must be a joke," adding that "there's nothing ongoing" with his company and Nokia.

A marriage between Nokia and Lenovo would seem rather odd, to say the least. The companies don't necessarily appeal to the same market -- Lenovo does well in the enterprise, after all -- and there's no compelling reason for a … Read more

TiVo is attempting to expand its knowledge of its customers with the purchase of a television advertising-effectiveness firm.

The DVR maker announced today that it has agreed to acquire TRA, a company that has developed a database to link the ads people watch in the home to what they actually buy. According to TiVo, TRA currently works with 45 brands and 27 television networks to track advertising effectiveness. TRA's service is matching customer transactions to ads in 1.5 million homes.

"With this new level of unique audience insights and analytics, TiVo will be able to provide insights … Read more

Samsung plans to acquire CSR's handset connectivity and location development operations and technology, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the deal, Samsung will hand over $310 million to the semiconductor company to take control over its "Handset Operations." In addition, Samsung will take on all 310 CSR employees operating in those divisions.

CSR says that Samsung will also invest $34.4 million into its operation in return for a 4.9 percent equity stake.

"I believe that under Samsung's ownership the handset operations will be in a better position to prosper in the … Read more

Social news site Digg has finally been purchased, in a deal that puts it under the ownership of New York-based Betaworks.

The deal, which was announced on Digg's company blog this afternoon, will put Digg's technology inside of News.me, a daily news e-mail digest.

"Digg will join a portfolio of products developed by Betaworks designed to improve the way people find and talk about the news," Digg's former CEO Matt Williams said in a statement, adding that Betaworks founder John Borthwick will now be Digg's chief executive.

Details of the deal were not … Read more

Micron will become the No. 2 maker of memory chips worldwide, second only to Samsung as it is set to buy Elpida Memory, a big supplier to Apple.

The Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker will purchase bankrupt Elpida for $2.5 billion, instantly doubling its share of the memory chip market to about 24 percent. Market leader Samsung has about a 42 percent share.

Elpida was formed in 1999 when NEC and Hitachi merged their memory chip businesses. But the price volatility of the memory market forced it to file for bankruptcy in February with $5.6 billion of debt, despite having … Read more