acquisition

ExploitShield becomes Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit

ExploitShield launched in September 2012 (covered previously by Seth Rosenblatt) with an ambitious goal: to close the yawning security gap for zero-day threats, those nasty exploits that arise upon first notice of a security vulnerability in a browser or other application before developers can fix the hole. Today, the ExploitShield technology gained a lot more visibility as it was acquired by security-software publisher Malwarebytes, whose Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software has been a Top 10 product on Download.com for many years.

As a result of the purchase, Malwarebytes has released a new beta version of the software, now called Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit. … Read more

Yahoo completes blockbuster $1.1 billion Tumblr acquisition

Exactly one month after announcing plans to acquire microblogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion, Yahoo has closed the deal.

The Internet giant announced Thursday that it officially owns Tumblr. The company announced the acquisition last month, saying that the $1.1 billion purchase price would be "substantially all...in cash." The company also promised at that time "not to screw [Tumblr] up."

Tumblr is highly popular site with over 300 million monthly unique visitors. The company was founded in 2007. Under the terms of the deal, Tumblr will remain its own entity under the Yahoo … Read more

Stratasys acquires MakerBot in $403 million deal

MakerBot, one of the most well-known desktop 3D printing companies, has been acquired by Stratasys, the companies said Wednesday.

In a release, the companies said it was a stock-for-stock transaction worth about $403 million, based on Stratasys' stock price as of Wednesday. Stratasys will exchange 4.76 million shares of its stock for 100 percent of MakerBot's outstanding stock. By agreeing to be acquired, MakerBot becomes part of one of the leading industrial 3D printing companies. The deal also allows the publicly-traded Stratasys to compete more directly at the consumer level with 3D Systems and that company's Cube … Read more

Justice Department: FCC can proceed with review of Sprint-SoftBank deal

The Department of Justice has given the Federal Communications Commission the go-ahead to issue a decision on Softbank's proposed buyout of Sprint.

In a letter to the FCC on Friday (PDF), the department said the Justice Department -- including the FBI -- along with the Department of Homeland Security had no problem with the deal proceeding.

"The agencies have reviewed the information provided by the applicants and analyzed the measures undertaken by the applicants to address potential national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues, including supply chain issues," the letter said. "Based on this review, … Read more

Salesforce aims $2.5B deal at ExactTarget

Salesforce has entered a definitive agreement to acquire ExactTarget, a digital marketing software firm, for $2.5 billion, marking the cloud software company's biggest acquisition to date. 

Under the terms of the deal, Salesforce will buy all the outstanding shares of ExactTarget for $33.75 per share in cash, marking a premium of more than 50 percent on the company's stock closing price on Monday.

"The CMO is expected to spend more on technology than the CIO by 2017," said Salesforce chairman and chief executive Marc Benioff in prepared remarks. "The addition of ExactTarget … Read more

Top proxy firm ISS likes SoftBank's offer for Sprint

A top adviser to mutual funds and other large investors says Sprint shareholders should give the thumbs-up to SoftBank's offer to buy the company, but it doesn't address a rival, preliminary -- and higher -- offer from Dish Network.

In a report, proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services said, according to The Wall Street Journal, that SoftBank's $20.1 billion offer "addresses Sprint's most compelling need: capital to acquire additional spectrum and complete the transformation of its network, enabling it to fully compete in the U.S. market."

The compelling need for capital aside, ISS … Read more

Yahoo's at it again with gaming platform acquisition

Yahoo's at it again.

The online giant has made another acquisition only days after reaching a deal to buy Tumblr. This time around, Yahoo is expanding in the gaming arena with the purchase of PlayerScale.

PlayerScale develops software for cross-plaform gaming that allows publishers and aggregators to quickly scale titles across various platforms. Founded in 2011, the company has over 150 million users worldwide, and it's adding more than 400,000 new users every day.

PlayerScale CEO Jesper Jensen announced the merger Thursday on the company's Web site, saying PlayerScale won't be going anywhere and its … Read more

Google X acquires kite-power startup Makani

Google is in the process of acquiring Makani Power, a startup building power-generating cable-tethered flying wings, and is incorporating the technology within its Google X "moonshots" division.

"We look forward to working with our new colleagues at Google[x] to make airborne wind a cost-effective reality," the company said on its Web site. "This formalizes a long and productive relationship between our two companies, and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels."

The acquisition was reported Wednesday in a BusinessWeek story about Google X, … Read more

SoftBank grants waiver for Sprint to talk more to Dish

SoftBank made a bold move in its ongoing battle with Dish to acquire Sprint. The Japanese wireless carrier gave Sprint a special waiver on Monday to let it go into more broad talks with Dish.

While this seems counterintuitive, SoftBank said that it believes further talks between Dish and Sprint will only show the U.S. wireless carrier that SoftBank is the superior candidate for the acquisition.

"We continue to believe that our agreed transaction, which we plan to close in approximately six weeks, creates substantially greater value and provides far greater certainty for Sprint shareholders," SoftBank Holdings … Read more