acquisitions

Buy Nokia? Surely you jest, Lenovo exec says

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 pays $20M for TV ad effectiveness company TRA

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 to drop $310 million into CSR's handset tech

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

Digg bought up by Betaworks, will live on alongside News.me

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 to buy major Apple supplier Elpida, takes on Samsung

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

Dell ponies up $2.4B to buy Quest Software

In a push to become a software player, Dell won a bidding war for Quest Software as it aims to bolster its data center software. The final price tag: $28 a share, or $2.4 billion.

Dell had been rumored as a buyer for Quest software for months. Quest received a $23 a share bid from Insight Venture Management and Vector Capital in March and then a "strategic buyer" pushed the price up to $27.50. Dell ultimately sealed the deal for $28 a share.

Quest's software manages databases and backs up data. Dell has been focused … Read more

Beats finally announces deal to acquire MOG

Beats Electronics, the headphones and audio-software maker, has finally confirmed that it has acquired MOG.

The companies revealed the news to USA Today this morning, confirming CNET's report last week, saying that the firms would be inking a deal quite soon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and both companies balked when asked how MOG, which provides over 15 million songs for users to stream, might be integrated into Beats.

However, CNET reported last week, citing sources, that Beats didn't have any plans to drastically change MOG in the near term. There has been some talk, however, … Read more

Beats finally set to announce acquisition of MOG

Beats, the maker of the high-end headphones that have become a status symbol, is finally ready to disclose that it is acquiring digital music service MOG, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The deal could be announced any day, the sources said. Financial terms weren't available.

CNET first reported that MOG was for sale in February and AllThingsD reported three weeks later that Beats was amid an acquisition of the service, which had been a back-of-the-pack subscription music service for years.

"There's nothing to confirm at this time," said a Beats spokeswoman. Representatives from MOG … Read more

Microsoft acquires corporate social network Yammer for $1.2B

[UPDATED at 1:14 p.m. PT]

The rumors were right. Microsoft announced on June 25 it has bought enterprise social networking vendor Yammer for $1.2 billion.

Yammer will join the Microsoft Office Division, led by division President Kurt DelBene, and the team will continue to report to current Yammer CEO David Sacks, according to a Microsoft statement.

I doubt seriously whether Microsoft will be integrating any of Yammer's technology into Office 2013, as the client, server and services that are part of this wave are already quite far along in development. A public beta of Office 2013 … Read more

Microsoft reportedly in $1 billion deal for Yammer

Microsoft has agreed to acquire business software company Yammer for more than $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

The report did not indicate when the acquisition is expected to be announced or completed.

Yammer representatives declined to comment. CNET has also contacted Microsoft for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

San Francisco-based Yammer is sort of like Facebook for companies: employees can post, share, and discuss items. It's become an integral tool for many startups, but it's also big among larger businesses. More than 80 percent of … Read more