| To: richardred who wrote (3940) | 6/1/2015 10:15:35 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE:TWTR It's big (market cap), but still not to big to be acquired. One hypothetical once Yahoo deals with a big capital gain from it's Alibaba stake. Buy TWTR and take a write off of TWTR goodwill. Marissa didn't buy AOL and Yahoo is not growing. She needs a big splash. Maybe it's time for it?
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| To: richardred who wrote (3831) | 6/1/2015 1:42:23 PM | | From: richardred | | | | RE-TDC speculation -The cheaper alternative than Salesforce.
>Microsoft’s position in cloud space In its earnings release, Microsoft notes that cloud computing will remain the focal point of its strategy going forward. The company points out that Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office 365 revenues almost doubled. And this can be considered a positive sign for the company’s ongoing transition from hardware to the cloud space.
According to a report from Synergy Research Group, and as the above chart shows, Amazon (AMZN) remains the unrivaled leader in the cloud space, followed by Microsoft, which registered 96% YoY (year-over-year) growth. This growth is more than any of the top five players in the cloud space. IBM (IBM), Google (GOOG), and Salesforce (CRM) round out the top five in this space.
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| To: richardred who wrote (3955) | 6/2/2015 9:12:08 AM | | From: richardred | | | | When will IBM make it's move?
Snip- IBM is feeling pressure to abandon its current share repurchase strategy and use its cash for cloud-related acquisitions. Among the places to look, observers argue, are data analytics and Internet security firms. Another possible target for IBM could be a cloud-storage specialist like Box Inc., analysts said.
IBM’s 2013 takeover of SoftLayer Technologies Inc. was a hit with industry watchers who are now waiting for slumping IBM to make its next acquisition move.
Cloud, Storage Deals Likely in ’15
January 27, 2015 by George Leopold
Screen Shot 2015-01-27 at 12.43.51 PM
Look for technology merger and acquisition activity that surged last year to continue in 2015 as potential suitors in sectors like software, cloud computing and storage seek to acquire new services and consolidation quickens in crowded markets.
According to a forecast released by market watcher 451 Research, deal-making momentum that hit record levels in 2014 is expected to grow this year.
In areas such as cloud infrastructure, the 451 report noted that service providers are attempting to stave of commoditization by layering new services on top of their compute offerings. “Although partnerships can expand the portfolio, the benefits of exclusive ownership and the ability to customize [intellectual property] should lead to acquisitions in high-value segments such as information security, software development and performance monitoring,” the M&A report concluded.
In the cloud sector, companies like IBM have forged cloud partnerships with the likes of Apple. The two are partnering on a cloud platform called Bluemix designed to help developers build and run Web and mobile applications. Still, IBM is feeling pressure to abandon its current share repurchase strategy and use its cash for cloud-related acquisitions. Among the places to look, observers argue, are data analytics and Internet security firms. Another possible target for IBM could be a cloud-storage specialist like Box Inc., analysts said.
IBM’s 2013 takeover of SoftLayer Technologies Inc. was a hit with industry watchers who are now waiting for slumping IBM to make its next acquisition move.
The storage sector also appears to be ripe for deals in 2015, according to 451 Research, as vendors jockey for position as flash and other solid-state technologies dominate storage for mission-critical workloads. “That has sparked a wave of acquisitions by not only storage systems vendors, but also former component manufacturers,” 451 said. “The remaining startups are rapidly hitting make-or-break points, with a few likely to be sold for scrap while at least one or two others fetch multibillion-dollar valuations in an IPO.”
Some storage acquisitions have progressed to spin outs. For example, SanDisk Corp. announced earlier this month the spin out of its ioControl hybrid storage unit that reemerged as NexGen Storage. Under the arrangement, SanDisk will supply NextGen with PCIe flash and disk drives as the new storage company focuses on hybrid flash arrays.
Elsewhere in the storage sector, persistent rumors last fall that market leader EMC Corp. was in play have so far failed to result in a deal. Among the most oft-mentioned suitors are Hewlett-Packard, which made several cloud acquisition last year, and Dell. Last fall, HP acquired Eucalyptus Systems, the developer of open source software used to build private and hybrid clouds.
The market researcher also projected that the data management sector is ripe for deals in 2015 as more workloads move to the cloud. “Look for integration [platform-as-a-service vendors] to evolve beyond [software-as-a-service] to on-premises integration, likely taking share from legacy vendors,” 451 Research forecast.
Other macroeconomic indicators pointing to another big year for tech merger and acquisitions include “bullish sentiment from corporate acquirers and bankers” and a “re-energized private equity market,” 451 Research concluded.
P.S. TIBCO to Be Acquired By Vista Equity Partners for $24.00 Per Share in Cash
Transaction Values TIBCO at Approximately $4.3 Billion
tibco.com
Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC), the big data analytics and marketing applications company, today announced that it completed the acquisition of RainStor, a privately held company specializing in online big data archiving on Hadoop. This acquisition strengthens Teradata’s enterprise-grade Hadoop solutions and will enable organizations to add archival data store capabilities for their entire enterprise, including data stored in OLTP, data warehouses, and applications.
“The addition of RainStor underscores Teradata’s commitment to support customers as they transform their organizations into data-driven enterprises,” said Scott Gnau, president, Teradata Labs. “The new archival capability will help customers cost-effectively and efficiently address their data archiving requirements using Hadoop.”
It is Teradata’s fourth big data-related acquisition this year; the other acquired companies include Revelytix, Hadapt, and Think Big Analytics. The four acquisitions demonstrate Teradata’s focus on helping customers derive meaningful value from all of their data.
teradata.com
Hopkinton, Mass., October 28, 2014 -
Today EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) announced the acquisition of three cloud technology companies: The Cloudscaling Group, Inc., Maginatics, Inc. and Spanning Cloud Apps, Inc. Each company brings to EMC deep expertise and powerful capabilities that enable EMC to extend the reach of its hybrid cloud vision across cloud infrastructure, storage and data protection. The acquisitions, together with today’s announcement of the EMC Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Solution, underscore EMC’s commitment to customers to deliver choice and agility in hybrid cloud deployments.
emc.com
Hortonworks to Acquire SequenceIQ to Speed Hadoop Deployments into the Cloud SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BRUSSELS, April 13, 2015
financial.tmcnet.com
The cloud-storage war continues with Dropbox’s acquisition of Readmill
venturebeat.com |
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| From: richardred | 6/2/2015 9:42:52 AM | | | | | | April 2015 | 12th edition
Global Capital Confidence Barometer
Innovation, complexity and disruption define the new M&A market
Our 12th Global Capital Confidence Barometer finds the global M&A market maintaining the positive momentum that developed during 2014. For the first time in five years, more than half our respondents are planning acquisitions in the next 12 months, as deal pipelines continue to expand.
Executives express increasing optimism in the global economy, with much broader consistency across geographies than in 2014. This economic optimism, combined with steady confidence in corporate earnings and other leading market indicators, is fostering an environment where companies are preparing bolder moves, including M&A, to generate future value.
Our survey reveals three key reasons for the sharp increase in dealmaking intentions. First is the arrival of new entrants — both startups and companies returning to the market after staying on the sidelines for several years. Second, divergent economic conditions are accelerating cross-border M&A, as existing momentum in many developed markets is further fueled by falling oil prices and currency fluctuation. And third, disruptive innovation is driving dealmaking at every level of the enterprise.
Of course, challenges remain prominent on the boardroom agenda. Greater volatility in commodity and currency markets, geographic divergence in economic conditions and monetary policies, and lingering geopolitical concerns all present complexity. As well, rapid technological change is creating new risks such as cybersecurity, which has emerged as a core business issue that must be managed as part of the dealmaking process.
Notwithstanding these risks, the overall view in this Barometer is of a global M&A market on an upswing after years of crisis. Companies are learning to create opportunity and drive growth amid a more competitive economic and geopolitical landscape. After a half-decade of stagnation, we are seeing the bold beginnings of a new kind of M&A market — one marked by innovation, complexity and disruptive change.
Photo of Pip McCrostie
Pip McCrostie
EY Global Vice Chair – Transaction Advisory Services
73%
of M&A activity will be innovative investment
ey.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3954) | 6/3/2015 5:56:15 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Google Buying Twitter an ‘Instant Fit,' Investor Sacca Says
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Bloomberg By Sarah Frier 32 minutes ago
Longtime Twitter Inc. investor Chris Sacca said it would be a good fit with Google Inc. in a merger scenario, even as he pushed for the company to improve its products and services to lure more users and advertisers.
“I think it would be a fantastic use of Google’s cash,” Sacca said on CNBC Wednesday, when he was asked whether Twitter should remain independent. “It’s an instant fit. This is the thing that Google never had. They’ve never understood social, have never understood those personal interactions. This bolts in quite clearly.”
More from Bloomberg.com: Jamie Dimon Becomes Billionaire Ushering in Era of the Megabank
Sacca’s comments follow his 8,500-word blog post on Wednesday calling on Twitter to broaden its appeal with new products to highlight the company’s content around live events and popular discussions. If Twitter follows suggestions like his, he said the company has a better chance of remaining independent. If not, he said Google, Microsoft Corp. or Facebook Inc. should make bids for San Francisco-based Twitter.
“I believe Twitter can be so much more than it is today,” said Sacca, who invests through his firm, Lowercase Capital LLC.
Sacca, known for being Twitter’s biggest cheerleader, has begun publicly criticizing the company for not taking advantage of its strengths. Still, the missive from an influential early investor adds to the burden facing Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo, who has struggled to boost Twitter’s users, even after replacing managers of its product and engineering teams. Twitter’s member base was 302 million monthly users in the first quarter -- about a fifth of Facebook’s audience.
More from Bloomberg.com: Putin's Secret Budget Hides Shift Toward War Economy
Jim Prosser, a spokesman for Twitter, and Winnie King, a spokeswoman for Mountain View, California-based Google, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Twitter is also holding its annual shareholders meeting today.
Bigger Risks
Twitter should take bigger risks, Sacca said. He pointed out that almost 1 billion people who have used Twitter didn’t stick with it. He predicted that some big changes -- such as apps that would organize posts by topic as opposed to chronologically, or prompts that help users decide what to post -- would bolster Twitter’s appeal.
Twitter, which lets users post 140-character updates with photos or video, has “failed to tell its own story to investors and users,” Sacca said. The stock has dropped 28 percent since late April, when the company cut its sales forecast and reported revenue that fell short of analysts’ estimates, prompting some of them to raise concerns about management’s credibility and assessment of advertiser and consumer demand.
More from Bloomberg.com: A 99-Year-Old Wall Street Veteran Reveals Secrets of Her Success
Wall Street
While the stock is up more than 40 percent since a November 2013 initial public offering, it’s about half of the peak set in December of that year. The shares of Twitter rose 1.7 percent to $37 at Wednesday’s close in New York.
“The transition to being public has been rough,” Sacca wrote. “The company has disappointed Wall Street more often than not. Twitter’s earnings calls are mostly dedicated to playing defense while discussing incremental improvements to sign-up flows and tweaks to the service.”
Top Stocks for 2015
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Twitter has the potential to reach 500 million users, Sacca said in his previous blog post last month. Sacca, a former adviser to the company, also said then that he hadn’t been “as candid as I could be in public discussions about Twitter.”
Sacca also suggested today that Twitter make its service easier to use by building a separate application or service that would curate content, with the help of human editors, focused on particular live events. It would “be the place everyone visits first to see how the game is going or when the show starts,” without requiring people to log in or Tweet.
Done Right
He also suggested channels within the application that could be destinations for information about particular locations or popular topics. Other organizations, such as the National Basketball Association, could build separate applications that display Twitter posts, he said. Sacca wants Twitter to feel less lonely, and suggests adds like “hearts” and read receipts on tweets.
“Done right, and done soon, hundreds of millions of new users will join and stay active on the service, hundreds of millions of inactive users will return to the service, and hundreds millions more will use Twitter from the outside,” Sacca wrote.
More from Bloomberg.com
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| From: richardred | 6/4/2015 9:04:38 AM | | | | | | Had BRLI on the watch list , but never bought in. A 15 point move premarket. I've always had good fortune of my lab stocks being acquired. Metpath, Damon, Biomedical Reference Labs,. Blood testing is needed for many treatments and monitoring of those treatments today.
Opko Health agrees to buy Bio-Reference Labs in $1.5 billion deal
in a deal valued at about $1.5 billion. Opko said it will pay 2.75 shares for each Bio-Reference Labs share, which is equal to $52.58 per share. The deal is expected to close in the second half. Opko said it will leverage the marketing, sales and distribution resources of Bio-Reference Labs to push sales of 4Kscore, a blood test that provides details of a patient's risk of contracting aggressive prostate cancer, along with other diagnostic products. J.P. Morgan was financial advisor to Opko, while Allen & Company LLC was financial advisor to Bio-Reference Labs. Opko shares fell 3.2% in premarket trade, while Bio-Reference Labs was halted.
marketwatch.com |
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| From: Glenn Petersen | 6/4/2015 9:44:11 AM | | | | | | Dish Network in Merger Talks With T-Mobile US
Dish and T-Mobile have agreed Charlie Ergen would be chairman and John Legere CEO, sources say
By Ryan Knutson, Thomas Gryta andShalini Ramachandran
The Wall Street Journal
Updated June 4, 2015 12:09 a.m. ET
Dish Network Corp. DISH -1.24 % is in talks to merge with T-Mobile US Inc., TMUS -0.80 % people familiar with the matter said, a deal that would accelerate a wave of consolidation across the U.S. media and communications industries.
The two sides are in close agreement about what the combined company would look like, with Dish Chief Executive Charlie Ergen becoming the company’s chairman and his T-Mobile counterpart, John Legere, serving as the combined company’s CEO, the people said.
Tougher questions about a purchase price and the mix of cash and stock that would be used to pay for a deal remain unresolved, the people said. One of the people characterized the talks as at “the formative stage,” and said an agreement might not ultimately be hammered out.
If completed, the deal would be the latest multibillion-dollar combination in traditional television and communications industries being upended by the Internet. T-Mobile rival AT&T Inc. T 1.95 % is close to wrapping up its $49 billion deal for Dish rival DirecTV DTV 1.29 % that will create the country’s largest pay-TV company. Meanwhile, Charter Communications Inc. CHTR -2.88 % recently announced a total of $67 billion in deals that would roll up Time Warner Cable TWC -0.92 % and Bright House Networks to create the second-largest U.S. cable operator.
A deal would likely be very large. T-Mobile has a market capitalization of about $31 billion, a little below Dish’s $33 billion.
A Dish deal with T-Mobile would combine the country’s second-largest satellite TV operator with its fourth-largest wireless carrier. It would also address major strategic issues for both sides.
Dish lacks the robust broadband Internet service that cable companies can lean on to offset a declining TV business. It also has amassed billions of dollars of wireless licenses but hasn’t built the cellular network needed to put them to use. T-Mobile’s wireless service would help address both needs.
T-Mobile, meanwhile, has added subscribers at an industry-leading rate over the past several quarters, but still is dwarfed by much bigger rivals AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. VZ -0.12 % Dish’s wireless licenses would give T-Mobile a path to boosting the capacity of its network.
T-Mobile has about 44.7 million retail customers, which includes mainstream and prepaid customers. Dish has 13.8 million satellite TV customers and 591,000 Internet subscribers.
Deutsche Telekom DTEGY 1.74 % owns 66% of T-Mobile and has for several years been looking to either sell the company or merge it with another.
One significant uncertainty is Mr. Ergen, who has held talks with companies across the wireless and satellite industries in recent years without completing a major deal. Dish bid openly—and unsuccessfully—for wireless carriers Sprint Corp. S 1.28 % and Clearwire Corp. two years ago and has earned a reputation as a deal maker who is tough to get to closing.
A Dish deal with T-Mobile would combine the country’s second-largest satellite TV operator with its fourth-largest wireless carrier. Photo: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg New
Still, Dish has consistently expressed interest in entering the wireless industry. It has been amassing licenses to use wireless airwaves for several years. Earlier this year, it worked with two smaller firms to bid $13.3 billion in a government auction of wireless airwaves, second only to AT&T’s $18.2 billion.
T-Mobile has transformed itself from the weakling of the wireless industry into its fastest-growing carrier. Under Mr. Legere, T-Mobile acquired regional rival MetroPCS in 2013, made strides in improving the quality of T-Mobile’s network, and was the first carrier to do away with two-year contracts. It also began paying subscribers to switch carriers and soon began adding customers at a rapid clip. In the first three months of the year, it was the only major U.S. carrier to add phone customers, and T-Mobile is now on track to pass rival Sprint and become the country’s third-largest wireless carrier by subscribers.
T-Mobile spent much of last year in talks to be acquired by Sprint. Those talks fell apart after federal regulators—insistent on preserving four national wireless carriers—repeatedly signaled they would block a deal.
That opened the door for Mr. Ergen. In May, Mr. Ergen said, “We admire what John and his team have done at T-Mobile,” referring to Mr. Legere, the CEO, “and certainly we follow what they do.”
A T-Mobile deal with Dish could face far less opposition from regulators, because the companies are in different industries and because a deal could in theory create a stronger wireless competitor. AT&T’s similar combination with DirecTV is expected to be approved. Regulators would look to see if the combined companies might need to shed some spectrum, however.
On Tuesday, Mr. Ergen uncharacteristically agreed to sit down with analysts and investors for a meeting in the Denver area near Dish’s headquarters. While much was expected of the meeting, analysts and investors said they came away with little additional insight about Dish’s wireless plans. “Some attendees were clearly disappointed that there were no announcements,” J.P. Morgan JPM 1.03 % analyst Phil Cusick said in a research note Wednesday.
Mr. Ergen reiterated in the meeting that Dish has four options for its wireless strategy: join with another company to offer wireless service, sell Dish’s spectrum or the whole company, acquire another company with a network, or wholesale the spectrum. Analysts said Dish made clear it has no plans to build a wireless network from scratch.
Mr. Cusick said Dish’s view is that “spectrum values should increase as bandwidth shortages crop up, so Dish has no urgency to act, but again is open to the right near-term deal if it comes along.”
Corrections & Amplifications:
T-Mobile has about 44.7 million retail customers. Also, Charter Communications recently announced a total of $67 billion in deals that would roll up Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to create the second-largest cable operator. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that T-Mobile has 39 million retail customers and that Charter recently announced a total of $66 billion in deals. (June 3)
Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com, Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com and Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
wsj.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3952) | 6/6/2015 9:38:06 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE-OMG The risk arbs are in. The stock now is now trading slightly above the offer. With the stock in PLAY AND A formal deal on the table. I'm holding on to my shares for a higher bid or WHITE KNIGHT.
A look at the OM Group sale featuring SpringOwl OM Group is getting taken out by Apollo Group and Platform Specialty Products - with shares up 30% over the last week, not all shareholders are happy. It seems the activist here, FrontFour Capital, is getting a raw deal as well. They went active in January and are getting taken out at a roughly 15% premium from the day it went active. FrontFour wanted cost cuts and buybacks - suggesting the fair value could be $60 a share, versus the current $34 buyout. But SpringOwl has come out against the deal, which comes comes as its cohort Cove Street Capital has come out today vilifying the deal.
Now, SpringOwl's issues include the fact that it believes OM Group is very close to getting past its operational issues, including:
(i) a value-destructive M&A binge at a cost of approximately $1.5 billion, (ii) woeful historical ROIC and ROE measures versus the Company's Proxy Peer Group over one, three and five-year periods, (iii) lackluster EBITDA margins as compared to the Company's Proxy Peer Group, and (iv) a seemingly bloated SG&A structure.
SpringOwl takes issue with the fact that management did not and has not looked for other buyers. The all-cash deal also means that shareholders won't get to participate in the turnaround of OM Group in the future. Of note - the buyout was signed before FrontFour Capital's two board nominees were announced. On the board right now is a former Apollo partner.
activiststocks.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3145) | 6/6/2015 10:09:01 AM | | From: richardred | | | | RE-ULBI The company is now moderately profitable and continues to shrink the shares outstanding. I've been holding since Michael Popielec came over from Carlisle corp in 2010. With insiders owning a big percentage, no debt, and 20 million in cash. In due time. I wouldn't be surprised to see a management lead buyout. They even have a China connection for LI batteries.
businesswire.com
8-K snip-On June 2, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an expansion and extension of the Share Repurchase Program, authorizing the repurchase of up to an additional 1.6 million common shares through June 2, 2016. Since the inception of the Share Repurchase Program on May 1, 2014, through June 4, 2015, the Company has repurchased 1,682,678 shares for an aggregate cost of $6,476,742 exclusive of any fees, commissions or other expenses related to such repurchases. The total balance for repurchase is now 1,717,322 shares under the Share Repurchase Program, which includes 117,322 shares remaining from the initial authorization of 1.8 million shares.
stocknewsflow.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3865) | 6/11/2015 1:32:50 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Permira Buys PopCorners as Dealmakers Remain Hungry for Healthy Options
Campbell Soup and ConAgra have also made better-for-you food deals recently
By Allison Collins
June 10, 2015
As dealmakers continue to crave better-for-you snack deals, private equity firm Permira is buying Medora Snacks LLC and Ideal Snacks Holding Corp.
Medora, headquartered in Middletown, New York, makes PopCorners, PopCorners Whole Grain, Pop Crinkles and popped bean chips. Liberty, New York-based Ideal is a contract manufacturer for popped snacks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
London-based Permira will combine the two companies into one holding company called BFY Holdings I LLC, based in New York. Since 1985, Permira has raised more than $28 billion and invested in more than 200 companies. In October, Permira agreed to sell specialty chemicals maker Arysta LifeScience Ltd. to Platform Specialty Products. In March 2014, the firm sold Renaissance Learning to Hellman & Friedman. The firm's other portfolio companies include Ancestry.com, Dr. Martens, LegalZoom and Telepizza.
In the food sector, dealmakers are mirroring consumers as they shift their choices towards healthier snack options.
"We are in the midst of a seismic shift within the food industry in which consumers are actively seeking out healthier snack products while not sacrificing taste," says Permira partner John Coyle.
Recent better-for-you food deals include Campbell Soup Co.'s (NYSE: CPB) acquisition of Garden Fresh Gourmet for $231 million, announced on June 9, and ConAgra Foods Inc.'s (NYSE: CAG) purchase of organic frozen meal business Blake's All Natural Foods. For more on the trend, see Snack Time.
themiddlemarket.com
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