AllThingsD » divest http://allthingsd.com Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:35:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://allthingsd.com/theme/images/logo-rss.jpg All Things Digital http://allthingsd.com/ 144 22 Diller: Maybe I’ll Hold on to Ask.com After All http://allthingsd.com/20091202/diller-maybe-i%e2%80%99ll-hold-on-to-ask-com-after-all/ http://allthingsd.com/20091202/diller-maybe-i%e2%80%99ll-hold-on-to-ask-com-after-all/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:30:56 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=30123

“We’ve been asked a lot whether we’re open to consolidating transactions in the area of search. The answer is yes. And, it is unlikely that we would be the consolidator.”

– IAC CEO Barry Diller, Oct. 28, 2009

jeeves_blackeye1Turns out Barry Diller isn’t all that interested in selling off IAC’s (IACI) Ask.com search engine, “speculative” though its future might be. Speaking at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York on Wednesday, Diller said he’d rather partner with another search company than divest Ask outright.

Evidently that’s the message he’s been giving to any party that’s inquired about buying Ask. “The people who called us were on exploration missions, on a stand-alone buy as an asset,” he said. “That is different than having conversations with other people in the vineyard, in the area of search.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091202/diller-maybe-i%e2%80%99ll-hold-on-to-ask-com-after-all/feed/ 0 Mr. Ellison Asks That His Burgers Be Served With Freedom Fries Until Further Notice http://allthingsd.com/20090903/eu-orcl-sun/ http://allthingsd.com/20090903/eu-orcl-sun/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:12:15 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=24053 sun-oracleApproved without incident by Sun shareholders in July and the U.S. Justice Department in August, Oracle’s planned $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems seemed poised to easily pass muster with European regulators as well. Sadly for Oracle, that’s not how things have played out. Citing “serious concerns” about the deal’s effect on competition in the market for databases, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into it.

“The Commission has to examine very carefully the effects on competition in Europe when the world’s leading proprietary database company proposes to take over the world’s leading open source database company,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. “In particular, the Commission has an obligation to ensure that customers would not face reduced choice or higher prices as a result of this takeover.”

In short, the Commission’s concern is with Sun’s open-source database, MySQL, and Oracle’s plans for it. A preliminary market investigation has shown “that the Oracle databases and Sun’s MySQL compete directly in many sectors of the database market and that MySQL is widely expected to represent a greater competitive constraint as it becomes increasingly functional,” the Commission explained. The “investigation has also shown that the open source nature of Sun’s MySQL might not eliminate fully the potential for anti-competitive effects.” So the Commission will dig a bit deeper to determine just how much incentive Oracle has to further develop MySQL as an open-source database.

A tough break for Oracle (ORCL), which now has to suffer through an EC probe scheduled to last until Jan. 19, one that increases the chances the company may have to divest some features of Sun’s (JAVA) business to get the deal done.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090903/eu-orcl-sun/feed/ 1 AT&T and Verizon Sitting in a Tree, D-U-O-P-O-L-Y http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y/ http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 13:32:35 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=17340 verizon-att-fightjpgAT&T has beaten out some 30 telecommunications carriers and private equity groups to buy the wireless spectrum and other assets that rival Verizon Communications was required to divest as a condition of its recent acquisition of Alltel Wireless. AT&T said this weekend that it will pay $2.35 billion in cash to buy licenses, network assets and some 1.5 million wireless subscribers across 18 states, mostly in rural areas. “Wireless continues to be AT&T’s greatest growth driver, and this transaction will complement our existing network coverage, particularly in rural areas,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “The acquisition will add network assets, distribution channels and 850 MHz spectrum in a significant portion of the U.S., enabling even better coverage for AT&T’s subscribers in those areas.”

The deal will put AT&T (T) that much closer to parity with Verizon (VZ), which surpassed AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier after its January acquisition of Alltell. Together, the two account for about 60 percent of all U.S. cellular subscribers. 

[Image Credit: IntoMobile]

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y/feed/ 1 AT&T and Verizon Sitting in a Tree, D-U-O-P-O-L-Y http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y-2/ http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y-2/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 13:32:35 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=17340 verizon-att-fightjpgAT&T has beaten out some 30 telecommunications carriers and private equity groups to buy the wireless spectrum and other assets that rival Verizon Communications was required to divest as a condition of its recent acquisition of Alltel Wireless. AT&T said this weekend that it will pay $2.35 billion in cash to buy licenses, network assets and some 1.5 million wireless subscribers across 18 states, mostly in rural areas. “Wireless continues to be AT&T’s greatest growth driver, and this transaction will complement our existing network coverage, particularly in rural areas,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “The acquisition will add network assets, distribution channels and 850 MHz spectrum in a significant portion of the U.S., enabling even better coverage for AT&T’s subscribers in those areas.”

The deal will put AT&T (T) that much closer to parity with Verizon (VZ), which surpassed AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier after its January acquisition of Alltell. Together, the two account for about 60 percent of all U.S. cellular subscribers. 

[Image Credit: IntoMobile]

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090511/att-and-verizon-sitting-in-a-tree-d-u-o-p-o-l-y-2/feed/ 0 EBay’s Donahoe Says Changes Could Take Three or Four Years http://allthingsd.com/20090416/ebay%e2%80%99s-donahoe-says-changes-could-take-three-or-four-years/ http://allthingsd.com/20090416/ebay%e2%80%99s-donahoe-says-changes-could-take-three-or-four-years/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:42:03 +0000 Geoffrey A. Fowler http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=10839 In the past week, eBay Inc. (EBAY) chief executive John Donahoe has taken steps to divest two businesses, acquire another, and revamp his company’s core e-commerce website.

During a call with investors Thursday morning, Donahoe said he thinks an initial public offering for eBay’s Internet-phone unit Skype will best “maximize value,” but he would be open to an unsolicited offer from another company to buy it outright. And he said that an agreement to purchase leading South Korean e-commerce company Gmarket Inc. will help the company grow not only in that market, but also serve as a platform to expand in Asian markets such as Japan, which eBay exited in 2002.

In a subsequent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Donahoe discussed the reasons for the hectic activity–-even during a week while he’s been on vacation–-and the forces behind a transformation plan he expects to take three to four years.

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