8 posts and columns on acquire

News Byte

Apple Acquires App Search Engine Chomp

in News on February 23 at 6:29 pm PT

Apple on Thursday confirmed it has acquired San Francisco-based start-up Chomp, which operates a search engine for apps, for an undisclosed amount. Apple declined to elaborate on how it plans to integrate Chomp, other than to say it sometimes acquires technology companies and generally doesn’t discuss its plans. The acquisition comes as Apple is counting down to the App Store’s 25-billionth app download, across the 550,000 app titles currently available. The Chomp acquisition was first reported by TechCrunch.

Twitter Acquires Social Summary Tool Summify

in Social on January 19 at 9:33 am PT

Twitter has acquired Summify, a small start-up that smartly aggregates links shared by users’ friends on social networks.
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Voices

Applied Materials Expected to Buy Varian Semiconductor

in Voices on May 4, 2011 at 2:40 am PT

Chip-equipment manufacturer Applied Materials Inc. is expected to announce an agreement to acquire Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. for about $5 billion in cash, a person familiar with the matter said, betting that the demand for popular gadgets such as smartphones and energy-efficient technology will drive growth at a combined company.

Voices

GameStop Bulks Up on the Web

in News on March 31, 2011 at 3:30 pm PT

GameStop Corp. has reached agreements to acquire two companies to bolster its online strategy, as the largest global retailer of videogames seeks to navigate a potentially treacherous move into electronic distribution of games.

News Byte

China's Baidu Launches Its Own Version of Groupon

in News on December 2, 2010 at 11:15 am PT

While Google was making headlines this week for reportedly trying to acquire Groupon, Baidu–its biggest Chinese rival–was busy launching its own version of the group buying site. Youa Tuangou, which means “group buy” in Chinese, went live yesterday on Baidu’s Youa e-commerce platform. Any merchant listed on the company’s Baidu Shenbian consumer review site can create discounted offerings to be promoted on the new service. Groupon, meanwhile, has acquired three Web sites in Asia, but none of them operate in mainland China.

Enter the Chernin? Former News Corp. President and COO in Yahoo What-If Mix

in News on November 17, 2010 at 1:58 pm PT

Things have certainly quieted down in the swirl of mostly vapor plots about the future of Yahoo, although the pondering, machinating and such on the parts of a variety of players have most certainly continued. And that includes the introduction of a new character into the drama: Former News Corp. President Peter Chernin. Let’s be clear–there are no deals brewing, but there is a lot of interest in involving the well-regarded media exec in the situation.

Ignore the Twitter Buyout Rumors: Here Are the Facts in Five Beyoncé-Madonna-Approved Steps

in News on May 5, 2009 at 4:00 am PT

Was it more than a month ago that the Google was rumored to be in “late-stage negotiations to acquire Twitter”? Not so much late-stage, I guess. So, I guess it should come as no surprise that it was time to fob yet another rumor that yet another moneybags of a company–this time, Apple–is in “late-stage negotiations to buy Twitter.” But despite very serious interest in the hot microblogging service by every company that can afford considering such a thing, including Apple, getting across that late-stage line would require major investors in the hot start-up to be very involved, and they are not as yet. So, rather than be on the edge of your seat about all these endless, alleged late-stage high jinks, here is a five-step list to cut out and keep when the questionable rumors of “late-stage negotiations” with Microsoft, News Corp., Verizon, Cisco and more inevitably show up.
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