acquisitions

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

Carlyle takes controlling interest in Getty Images for $3.3 billion

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 acquires Frommer's, pushes further into travel info

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

Founder Schulze submits proposal to acquire Best Buy

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