Deals

CBS Radio is hoping to step up its Internet presence through a deal it announced Friday with AOL. CBS, the second-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., plans to offer advertising-supported streams from 150 online radio stations to listeners free of charge over AOL's online radio portal. CBS Radio, ...

European Union regulators are poised to approve Google's acquisition of DoubleClick, according to published reports, handing the search giant a major victory and clearing the way for the $3.1 billion takeover to be closed quickly. The European Commission will approve the merger without conditions, a...

Seeking to buy time for its directors to explore alternatives before Microsoft can mount a campaign to win seats on its board, Yahoo has modified the way it nominates board members. The portal amended its bylaws to extend the deadline for nominating directors. The deadline was originally March 14 bu...

Ever since Microsoft made an unsolicited takeover bid for Yahoo -- a $44.6 billion proposition -- Yahoo has been beset with distractions, which the company readily acknowledged in making its annual report. The loss of key employees and the exodus of advertisers from its platform have been among the ...

XM Satellite Radio Holdings announced double-digit growth in revenues and its subscriber base despite Congressional foot-dragging in regard to its potential merger with rival Sirius Satellite Radio. The company's revenues increased 22 percent in 2007 to $1.1 billion, driven in large measure by its 1...

Reverse shell mergers have emerged as the de facto global IPO marketplace for emerging growth companies. Last year, there were 222 completed reverse merger transactions. Collectively, they were valued at $8.36 billion, a 14 percent increase over the previous year. We expect 2008 to show greater inc...

In a bid to retain its leadership in the gaming space amid growing competition, Electronic Arts has launched a $2 billion takeover bid against rival Take-Two Interactive, an offer quickly rejected by the smaller company as "inadequate." EA offered $26 per share in cash for Take-Two, a price that rep...

Businesses have data storage issues -- but so do individuals. The former problem is being addressed; the latter is a relatively untapped market. That is likely the thinking behind EMC's acquisition of Pi. EMC, a Hopkinton, Mass.-based storage vendor, is acquiring privately held Pi, a Seattle-based s...

Commonly, a publicly held corporation will go to the public markets in order to raise capital. Unfortunately, directors' risk of liability can be substantially increased when a company is raising capital. This is particularly the case if any of the lenders or investors in a particular capital raise ...

Shares of Georgia-based data-services provider ChoicePoint jumped by nearly half Thursday over their previous closing price after the firm announced that UK-based publisher and Lexis Nexis owner Reed Elsevier is buying it for $4.1 billion. ChoicePoint stock rose by 43.26 percent, to $48.22 by midday...

A $2.2 billion deal 3Com had been planning involving a private equity group and a Chinese telecommunications firm apparently fell apart Wednesday over security concerns. 3Com, a Marlborough, Mass.-based network equipment manufacturer, had agreed in September to accept an offer of $5.30 per share fro...

Confusion is swirling around Microsoft's bid for Yahoo. After having been twice rebuffed, Microsoft reportedly is planning to authorize a proxy fight this week. Meanwhile, institutional shareholders are about to lock horns over whether Microsoft should up its bid of $31 a share for Yahoo. Then there...

In a move that further crowds an already over-served market, four newspaper giants -- New York Times, Hearst, Gannett and Tribune -- have created a new online advertising partnership. Their new venture, QuadrantOne, will be headquartered in Chicago. Its interim CEO is Dana Hayes, Jr., who was named ...

OPINION

The New IPO Market: Reverse Shell Mergers

The average size raised for an IPO in 2007 was $229 million, according to IPO Home. That translates into a market cap valuation averaging over $1 billion for companies that are going public. The marketplace for IPOs has changed dramatically since 2000, when the Internet IPO frenzy imploded. Since t...

Yahoo has held talks with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. about a partnership, merger or similar arrangement, according to reports. Such a deal would help fend off Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion bid to take over the portal and create an Internet force capable of rivaling Google. News Corp. would ...

E-Commerce Times Channels