Sprint ups its bid for Clearwire at the eleventh hour
Sprint has given into shareholder pressure and raised its bid for Clearwire by 14 percent. Clearwire immediately canceled today shareholder vote, rescheduling for next week. Read more »
420,000 U.S. Cellular customers soon must make a choice: Join Sprint or find a new provider
Sprint buyout of U.S. Cellular in Chicago and St. Louis closed Friday, and it won’t keep its networks running for long. Customers can either trade in their U.S. Cellular devices with Sprint or look for a new carrier. Read more »
Clearwire board: Sprint buyout is our best chance of survival
In a letter to shareholders, Clearwire argued that the Sprint’s proposed takeover represents the best deal for Clearwire’s shareholders despite Dish’s offer to invest in the WiMAX provider. Read more »
Enter T-Metro: MetroPCS shareholders approve T-Mobile merger
The shareholder vote was the last step in a long chain of approvals necessary to cement the deal. On May 1 — just seven months after the companies announced their intentions — T-Mobile and MetroPCS will officially combine. Read more »
Sprint says its weighing Dish’s offer but presses FCC to approve Softbank deal
Sprint is juggling its two competing buyout offers. It’s appointed a special committee to evaluate Dish’s proposal on one hand, but it’s not delaying its wedding date with SoftBank on the other. Read more »
Sprint’s tough choice: Dish might be a more attractive suitor than Softbank
photo: Flickr / Dave Lindblom
Softbank certainly has the money to counter Dish’s offer, but Dish has much more to offer than cash, namely valuable spectrum and a huge TV network. Read more »
DT gets nervous over T-Mobile-MetroPCS vote; tweaks the deal’s terms
MetroPCS has delayed the final shareholder vote necessarily to finalize its merger with T-Mobile USA. Fearing rejection, T-Mo owner DT is offering up a new deal with better terms. Read more »
Rumor Mill: Google’s next big acquisition could be mobile messenger WhatsApp
photo: WhatsApp
Why would Google be interested in WhatsApp when it already has a bevy of peer-to-peer messaging and communications apps at its disposal? For the same reason Facebook bought Instagram. Read more »
Vodafone shares dip as Verizon denies $245 billion takeover rumors
Verizon has unsurprisingly scotched Tuesday’s rumor of a record-breaking takeover – in concert with rival carrier AT&T, no less – of Vodafone. Voda’s shares have dropped a couple percent in response. Read more »
The mother of all M&A rumors: AT&T, Verizon to jointly buy Vodafone
The $245 billion deal would be the single largest M&A transaction in history, according to the Financial Times. But just as with any rumor about Vodafone and Verzion’s joint venture, there are reasons to be skeptical. Read more »
Oracle aims to shape the flow of mobile data with Tekelec buy
photo: Shutterstock / Lightspring
Oracle is loading up on telecom vendors that specialize in controlling and managing data and VoIP traffic as it traverses the network. Read more »
T-Mobile-MetroPCS sails through FCC without even a vote
A week after clearing the Justice Department, the T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger gains the FCC stamp of approval without a peep of protest. Now the only thing standing in the deal’s way are Metro’s stockholders. Read more »
Justice Department: T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger is fine by us
Federal antitrust lawyers signaled they have no problems with T-Mobile USA’s pending tie-up with MetroPCS. It’s a good sign for the deal as the DOJ has been actively scrutinizing telecom deals of late. Read more »
Shareholder opposition to T-Mobile-MetroPCS tie-up mounts
photo: Shutterstock / Rebelf
MetroPCS’s largest shareholder is now opposed to the merger. Opponents still don’t have the votes to derail it, but if more institutional shareholders join their cause, Metro and DT may be forced to alter the terms. Read more »
Sprint discussed deals with 4 other companies before picking Softbank
photo: Shutterstock / Paul Fleet
According to a regulatory filing, Sprint entertained four possible M&A deals in the last two years apart from Softbank. Dish and MetroPCS are obvious candidates, and the other two could have been T-Mobile and the cablecos. Read more »
Clearwire plays it cool, weighs both Sprint, Dish deals
In a filing with the SEC, Clearwire is making every indication it wants to be acquired by Sprint, but it also isn’t taking Dish Network’s counteroffer off the table. Read more »
Breaking down 2012 tech acquisitions by the numbers
Which companies and sectors were the biggest winners in tech acquisitions for 2012? A new report from CB Insights breaks down where trends in M&A for 2012 among private tech companies acquired during the year. Read more »
Justice Department asks FCC to put Sprint-Softbank on hold
The Justice Department is raising security questions over the Sprint-Softbank deal, and has asked the FCC to defer any action on the deal until it and other government agencies complete their review. Read more »
Targets missed, Nook sells stake to Pearson to secure book distribution
photo: Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble and Microsoft welcome Pearson to the Nook Media table as the education publisher lays down $89.5 to help secure distribution. But Nook is already set to miss targets set during its recent spin-out. Read more at paidContent »
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Social 2013: The enterprise strikes back
With investment souring on consumer-focused companies, 2013 will be more about the social enterprise, with a different set of companies driving innovation and perhaps a little disruption. Look for the likes of Salesforce.com, Jive Software, and other enterprise players to make headlines in the new year. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A GigaOM conversation with Sprint’s Dan Hesse on five harrowing years as CEO
A world of difference separates the Sprint Dan Hesse took over on Dec. 17, 2007 and Sprint today. On his fifth anniversary as CEO, Hesse talks with GigaOM about how Sprint emerged from its dark days and how AT&T-Mo eventually helped shape Sprint’s identity. Read more »
Sprint, Clearwire, Softbank, Dish: Who’s playing whom?
photo: Anthony Bernyi
If Sprint really wants to buy Clearwire, why did it low-ball its offer, and why is Softbank reportedly choking off Sprint’s bargaining power? Analyst Tim Farrar thinks there is more to this deal, and many other related ones, than meet the eye. Read more »
One banker’s predictions for the future of digital media
The digital media sector is finally maturng. Dan Ramsden, founder of CoRise, predicts some of the forms that that maturation will take. Read more »
What’s with AT&T’s weird response to the Sprint-Softbank deal?
AT&T isn’t against Softbank taking over Sprint. Ma Bell just wants to get something out of the deal, according to Public Knowledge’s Harold Feld. Also Sprint’s buying a majority stake in Clearwire doesn’t give it the direct control of the 4G operator that we thought. Read more »
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Cloud and data third-quarter 2012
The usual suspects Amazon and VMware made significant announcements in cloud in the third quarter, while Hadoop remained the talk of the town in big data. Emerging trends in software-defined networking and flash storage stirred up lots of M&A and venture investment in the quarter. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Moo.com turns business cards digital as London VCs get excited about exits
Business card printer and east London tech darling Moo.com acquires web personal landing page Flavors.me to bolster its digital profile. Read more »
Pulse competitor Taptu sold to Mediafed for mobile ad exposure
One of the recent crop of mobile personalised news aggregators is being acquired by an RSS advertising company looking to take its ads in to smartphones. Read more at paidContent »
TheStreet buys The Deal, shuts print mag
As the financial news market gets ever more competitive, Jim Cramer’s TheStreet is acquiring The Deal, a troubled print publication with a valuable online audience. Read more at paidContent »
More social marketing consolidation as Beyond buys Content & Motion
Data-driven social public relations are the order of the day for a San Francisco marketer, as it acquires a UK social marketing agency. Read more at paidContent »
Axel Springer buying local portal meinestadt.de to court local classifieds
Local is hot, at least for Axel Springer. The German publisher is buying a local portal, meinestadt.de, as a vehicle to gain exposure for local online classified advertising. Read more at paidContent »
Berlin start-ups seen ripe for money as GP Bullhound moves in
Tech start-up buzz is bringing Berlin to the attention of suits who broker company investments and sales. That means many more German outfits are likely to see money sloshing around, just like SoundCloud did. Read more »
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Research In Motion: future scenarios for its fate
Despite its current decline, RIM is a different firm today than it was in 2007, with new management, a full awareness of its shaky position, an upcoming OS release and a number of lingering advantages that can still be leveraged. Here’s how it just might survive. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Takeaways from the second quarter in cloud and data
In cloud and big data, the second quarter of 2012 featured several high-profile deals and product launches that could reshape the marketplace for everyone. Google and Microsoft launched Infrastructure-as-a-Service offerings, software-defined networking took off, and all eyes stayed fixed on the continuing promise of data analytics. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Clones meet their maker: Samwers join Care.com in acquisition
Rocket Internet did it before with eBay and Groupon, and now it’s done it again – having founded a very similar service to Care.com, it has now sold that service to the the U.S.-based care-giving firm for equity. Read more »
What a Big Tech investment could mean for Vevo
Allen & Co. is tapping Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple and Google to raise up to $150 million in funding for music video distributor Vevo, according to a weekend Wall Street Journal report. Read more at paidContent »
Pinterest investor Rakuten buys its way in to European VOD
It seems the world has a new digital media M&A power player. Fresh from buying Play.com, Kobo and a piece of Pinterest, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is acquiring Spanish TV and movie streaming service Wuaki.tv. Read more at paidContent »
Sainsbury supermarket buys HMV’s aNobii stake to enter e-books
photo: Corbis
Social book discovery startup was left divorced from its intended book retail partner after HMV jettisoned Waterstones. Now its future lays with a supermarket, not a traditional book store. Read more at paidContent »
Thomson Reuters acquires Apsmart for mobile product development
photo: Corbis / Noel Hendrickson
Thomson Reuters is acquiring London-based mobile development outfit Apsmart to build more of its apps for business professionals in-house. Read more at paidContent »
Verizon buys Hughes Telematics to target the connected car
Verizon’s ambition to connect more than homes and phones just zeroed in on the automotive market. It announced on Friday it is buying Hughes Telematics for $612 million in cash, gaining the company’s crop of machine-to-machine (M2M) connected car technologies and services. Read more »
Can Yell turn online around with self-serve marketing?
photo: Flickr / edkohler
Yell.com and Yellow Pages operator Yell Group is acquiring UK point-and-click website builder Moonfruit, as it tries to salvage even digital classifieds that are in reverse. Read more at paidContent »
