acquisition

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

HTC to move forward with S3 Graphics acquisition

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC says it plans to go ahead with its planned purchase of computer graphics company S3 Graphics.

HTC had announced last July that it planned to buy the California-based company for $300 million. S3 was an attractive takeover target for HTC, as its 270 patents had stood up well in disputes against Apple. But HTC got cold feet over its acquisition of S3 last fall, when the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Apple in a patent dispute between S3 and Apple.

The company said in November that it was reconsidering its options. Now … Read more

Microsoft thought about Nokia buy, promptly backed out -- report

Microsoft considered acquiring Nokia before seeing its books and running away, according to a new report.

The Register is reporting today, citing "well-placed sources," that Nokia gave Microsoft access to its books late last year to allow the software giant to determine if any part of its operation was worth buying. Soon after, Microsoft moved on, apparently unimpressed by what it found.

It's not hard to see why: Nokia's sales are plummeting rapidly as mobile users increasingly turn to iOS and Android. Still, it's clear why Microsoft might have considered acquiring all or part of … Read more

Google acquires cloud-based Quickoffice

Google has acquired Quickoffice, a cloud-based enterprise that provides mobile access office programs, Google announced today.

Quickoffice's software allows users to view, edit, and create Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on their mobile device.

"Today, consumers, businesses, and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device," according to a Google blog post. "Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our apps product suite."

Both companies see the acquisition … Read more