E-Commerce News: Deals

Icahn May Turn Yahoo Board to the Microsoft Side

Wednesday - May 14, 2008

An unlikely savior could bring Microsoft's failed bid for Yahoo back from the grave. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn may be mulling a proxy battle to replace the Web portal's board with one that's more friendly toward a Microsoft purchase. Icahn has not publicly stated his intentions, but he has accumulated more than 3.5 percent of the outstanding shares of Yahoo, beefing up his position in recent weeks to swell his ownership to about 50 million shares, according to reports. [More...]

HP Elbows In on IBM's Turf With $13.9B EDS Buy

Tuesday - May 13, 2008

HP is placing a $13.9 billion bet that it can wrest a piece of the tech services outsourcing market from IBM. It has announced it will acquire EDS for that sum. "The combination of HP and EDS will create a leading force in global IT services," said HP CEO Mark Hurd in announcing the proposed acquisition. [More...]

HBO Swings iTunes Deal With Some Premium Pricing

Tuesday - May 13, 2008

Leave it to the network that brought us Tony Soprano to break Apple's iTunes video pricing model. The Time Warner subsidiary and Apple on Tuesday announced that some HBO programming is now available at the online store, with a few shows priced at $2.99 per episode. Apple is selling episodes of "The Sopranos," "Deadwood" and "Rome" for $2.99 each. [More...]

Cablevision Picks Up Newsday for $650M

Monday - May 12, 2008

Cablevision Systems is buying the Long Island, New York-based newspaper Newsday from Tribune in a deal valued at $650 million, the companies announced Monday. Cablevision beat out media mogul Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., who withdrew his own $580 million bid on Saturday. New York Daily News owner Mortimer Zuckerman had also bid $580 million. [More...]

Why Microhoo Couldn't Work and How Google Helped It Fail

Monday - May 12, 2008

I'm often fascinated by mergers, or I should say I'm fascinated by how often they are attempted and how rarely they succeed. While it may appear that smaller mergers are more successful than larger ones, the reality is smaller merger failures are vastly easier to cover up. Very few mergers actually deliver the benefits that were promised by their advocates. [More...]

Blockbuster Takes a Gander at Circuit City Books

Friday - May 9, 2008

Electronics retailer Circuit City Stores will allow Blockbuster and its largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, to look into the company's finances in connection with the video rental company's proposed buyout offer. Circuit City also revealed that it has hired Goldman Sachs to help the company look into strategic alternatives to build its shareholder value. [More...]

'GTA' Sells, Yahoo Doesn't

Friday - May 9, 2008

Gas prices are setting record highs, homeowners are facing foreclosure, the dollar's slipping further down a black hole, and the credit industry is collapsing. These are frustrating times -- and perhaps that's partly why "Grand Theft Auto IV" just set some new records for video game sales. [More...]

Will Microsoft Ask Facebook to Dance?

Friday - May 9, 2008

The long list of companies Microsoft might acquire post-Microhoo includes such outré possibilities as Netflix, Cisco and Salesforce.com. Facebook is also on that list -- but its potential as a Microsoft acquisition target is beginning to look less unlikely. In fact, it's looking downright plausible. Rumor has it Microsoft has already approached the social networking site about a possible sale. [More...]

Best Buy Buys Its Way Into Europe via Carphone Warehouse

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Best Buy, the biggest U.S. electronics retailer, is paying $2.1 billion for a 50 percent stake in Europe's largest cell phone retailer, the companies announced Thursday. The Carphone Warehouse will place its 2,400 U.S. and European stores in the new joint venture. The deal also includes the Web and direct businesses of The Carphone Warehouse, the insurance operations, and its airtime reselling businesses. [More...]

America Movil to Hawk iPhone in Latin America

Thursday - May 8, 2008

In another step in the worldwide march of Apple's iPhone, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America said Wednesday that it has inked a deal to bring the multimedia gadget to more than a dozen countries starting later this year. America Movil said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations but didn't offer more details about the arrangement. [More...]

Cablevision Shells Out $500M for Sundance Channel

Wednesday - May 7, 2008

Cablevision Systems is buying the Sundance Channel, a cable network founded by Robert Redford, for $496 million, the New York-area cable TV company announced Wednesday. The Sundance Channel will become part of Cablevision's Rainbow Media programming division but will continue on as a distinct network. Rainbow also includes the independent movie channel IFC, AMC and WE tv. [More...]

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