Infosys To Acquire WongDoody

The country's second largest software services firm Infosys said it will acquire WongDoody Holding Company, a US-based digital creative and consumer insights agency, for a total consideration of up to USD 75 million.

"On April 13, 2018, the company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WongDoody, for a total consideration of up to USD 75 million including contingent consideration and retention payouts, subject to regulatory approvals and fulfillment of closing conditions," Infosys said in a regulatory filing.

The move would strengthen the company's creative, branding and customer experience capabilities. The acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of fiscal 2019, subject to customary closing conditions.

Previously, the company had announced the acquisition of Brilliant Basics, a London-based digital design and customer experience innovator that works with clients across Europe and Middle East.

"With Infosys Digital Studios spanning the globe from Bengaluru and Pune to New York, London, and Melbourne the addition of WongDoody strengthens Infosys' ability to fulfill the needs of global clients for comprehensive digital transformation solutions required to meet customer demand for next-generation, enhanced customer experiences," it said.

Founded in 1993, WongDoody is headquartered in Seattle and has an office in Los Angeles. It has clients across industries like telecommunications, consumer electronics, healthcare and consumer packaged goods.

Snapdeal to acquire Freecharge

Snapdeal is in advanced talks to buy online mobile recharge platform Freecharge for $450 million (Rs 2,800 crore). This is going to be the biggest deal in India's consumer internet industry.

The deal will cement the Delhi-based marketplace's reputation as an acquisitive and ambitious company as it takes on Flipkart and Amazon for leadership in India's online retail business.

So far, Delhi-based Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates Snapdeal, has announced five acquisitions and is expected to match that number in the coming fiscal.

The biggest deal in the consumer internet space so far is Flipkart's acquisition of fashion portal Myntra for an estimated $370 million (Rs 2,300 crore) in May 2014.

Backed by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, which invested $627 million (Rs 3,800 crore) in the company last October, Snapdeal is looking to build competence in the mobile and data analytics space.

Freecharge, founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon, head of technology conglomerate Tandon Group, is backed by Sequoia Capital and hedge funds Valiant Capital and Hong Kong-based Tybourne Capital Management which is also an investor in Snapdeal.

Last month, Freecharge, now led by CEO Alok Goyal, raised $80 million (Rs 496 crore) in funding, as it looks to increase its customer base by two to three times from the current 20 million. The Bengaluru-based company offers promotions or discounts from restaurants and retailers every time a customer uses its platform for a recharge.

Google to acquire India's InMobi

Google is in early talks to acquire Bangalore-based start-up InMobi, in a move that would strengthen its offering in the increasingly competitive mobile advertising space.

InMobi, which helps companies target phones and mobile devices in their advertising, was launched in 2007 and claims to have over 1 billion users across 200 countries. It counts Japan's SoftBank, an early backer of China's Alibaba, and early stage venture capital firm Sherpalo among investors.

According to a source, InMobi is expected to be likely valued at around $1 billion.

The Economic Times newspaper first reported news of these ongoing talks.

Apple buying mobile security firm AuthenTec

Mobile and network security provider AuthenTec recently announced that it has been acquired by Apple. Apple has agreed to acquire the company for $8 per share, or approximately $356 million. 

“AuthenTec is a leading provider of mobile and network security,” said the company, which currently provides Android security solutions to Samsung. “Our diverse product and technology offering helps protect individuals and organizations through secure networking, content and data protection, access control and strong fingerprint security on PCs and mobile devices.” Apple has not yet confirmed the acquisition, but it will seemingly look to bolster security on its iPhone and iPad as the devices continue to gain ground in the enterprise market. 

The transaction was unanimously approved by AuthenTec's board. It still requires approval from a majority of the holders of AuthenTec stock. AuthenTec currently has about 44.5 million outstanding shares.

Google acquires Clever Sense

Google has acquired Clever Sense, a Mountain View-based start up that provides a free app for Apple and Android devices called Alfred that provides curated, localized recommendations for restaurants and other services.

"Today, we are excited to join Google and start a new chapter in curating the world around us! Together with the Google team, we will accelerate our efforts toward this shared vision. Google helps local businesses connect with potential customers, and its worldwide presence can bring the value of Clever Sense to a much larger audience," said Clever Sense on its Web site.

Apple to buy Anobit for $500 million

Apple Inc is in talks to buy Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million.

The Calcalist financial daily said Apple is in advanced negotiations to buy Anobit for $400 million to $500 million.

Anobit has developed a chip that enhances flash drive performance through signal processing. The chip is already incorporated in Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and the MacBook Air.
Anobit is also examining a large financing round with a leading Asian flash memory manufacturer.

If the deal goes through, it would be one of Apple's largest ever acquisitions and its first in Israel. Apple also typically buys software firms and not hardware.

Calcalist said Apple is interested in Anobit's technology to increase and enhance the memory volume and performance of its devices. The chip may as much as double the memory volume in the new iPads and MacBooks.

Among Anobit's key clients are flash memory manufacturers such as Korean based Samsung and Hynix. Hynix recently become the main flash memory supplier for Apple's iPhone 4S. Anobit's chip is incorporated into Hynix's flash drives and enhances the device's memory.

Adtran to buy NSN Broadband Access unit

Struggling telecom network equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks has agreed to sell its fixed line Broadband Access business unit to U.S. firm Adtran as part of a revamp of its operations.

The sale is one of the first divestments for loss-making NSN since it announced plans last month to sell units and axe 17,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce.

The price of the deal - which includes technologies, intellectual property and the existing customer base - was not disclosed.

The companies said in a joint statement the deal was expected to close by the end of April 2012 and some 400 NSN employees would transfer to Adtran.

Adtran said the acquired business would be neutral to diluted earnings per share for the first full year after the deal closed and accretive thereafter.

NSN, which has struggled to make a profit since being set up in 2007, was formed by Finnish cellphone maker Nokia and German conglomerate Siemens in the hope of building enough scale to lead an industry dominated by Sweden's Ericsson and, increasingly, by Chinese entrants.

It has faced aggressive pricing from rivals and an economic downturn that has forced telecoms companies to cut spending.

Oracle to buy RightNow Technologies Inc

Software company Oracle says it is buying RightNow Technologies Inc. for about $1.5 billion so it can offer a broader range of software and services that help businesses manage customer service.

Oracle Corp. said it offered $43 per share for the tech service company from Bozeman, Montana.

RightNow's board has agreed to the deal which is subject to shareholder approval. Oracle expects to complete the deal by late this year or early next.

RightNow's main product helps companies manage customers' questions and complaints. It is delivered over the Internet or "cloud" - rather than by installing software directly on computers.

Microsoft Completes Skype Purchase

Microsoft and Skype are now one company. The Redmond, Washington-based technology giant completed its acquisition Friday of the once-upstart, Internet-based communications company.

In a posting on The Official Microsoft Blog, Tony Bates, the former Skype CEO who is now head of the new Skype division, said the deal-closing "represents a huge leap forward in Skype's mission to be the communications choice for a billion people every day."

Bates said Skype's position would be at "the intersection of social, mobile and video communications." He added that the company's goal was "to transform communications," which meshes with Microsoft's goal of creating "communication across every device and every platform."

In a video message, Bates said both Skype and Microsoft are "disruptive, innovative, software-oriented companies." The envisioned world is one of "complete, pervasive video communications, something that's across all parts of your life."

In May, Microsoft said it intended to buy Skype for $8.5 billion. Last week, Microsoft cleared its last major regulatory hurdle when the European Commission approved the purchase.

One of the questions had been whether Microsoft would hinder Skype's interoperability with other companies, or if it would integrate Skype with its widespread Windows operating system, creating market advantages others could not match.

On the first matter, the commission found that Microsoft would have no incentive to diminish Skype's interoperability, since it's to the advantage of the Skype brand that it be available via as many partners and platforms as possible.

Concerning whether Microsoft could integrate Skype with Windows, as it had been accused of doing with its Internet Explorer browser, the commission reasoned that most users could readily download a version of Skype if they wanted, and that most users who buy a PC with Skype installed were already registered Skype users.

Video is a growing part of communications, and of Skype. According to statistics released recently by Microsoft, about 42 percent of all Skype-to-Skype minutes were video calls, and there were 1.8 billion hours of Skype video calls made in the year ending in August.

Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, and it has about 124 million registered users. It is the largest Internet communications company, but has had difficulty being profitable. eBay bought the company in 2005 for an estimated $2.6 billion, but then sold it to an investor group last fall for an estimated $2 billion.

Google's Motorola deal to boost Android Ecosystem

Since Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, analysts, stockholders and developers have been discussing the implications, and the talk hasn't slowed. Speculation has included the winners and losers in the deal; a closed Android operating system; and how the deal ultimately helps Microsoft.

While many analysts point to Moto's patent portfolio, Tina Teng, a senior wireless analyst at IHS, suggested Motorola's product-development capabilities may have made it an attractive target for Google.

"Motorola has been closely following Google Android's operating-system release schedule. Whenever Google releases a new version of Android, Motorola almost immediately has a device ready with the latest revision of the software, reflecting the company's prodigious product-development capabilities," Teng said.

Beyond Smartphones:
Teng noted how Google previously has used new HTC and Samsung products to demonstrate the latest capabilities of the Android operating system. The HTC MyTouch and Samsung Nexus S served to show off the operating systems' capabilities so other OEMs could follow the example. If the Federal Trade Commission approves the acquisition, Motorola will become the company to set the example.

"Motorola can serve as Google's product R&D department as Android spreads into new markets," Teng added. "Motorola has engineering expertise in a wide range of products where Android will be used, including set-top boxes and televisions. The addition of Motorola's engineering and intellectual property will accelerate Android's time-to-market in these areas and potentially revitalize the Google TV business, which so far has met with little success."

Indeed, Google CEO Larry Page hinted at possibilities beyond smartphones in his blog posting. Specifically, he noted how Motorola is a market leader in the home-devices and video-solutions businesses.

"With the transition to Internet Protocol, we are excited to work together with Motorola and the industry to support our partners and cooperate with them to accelerate innovation in this space," Page said.

May Boost A Stronger Ecosystem:
According to Strategy Analytics, more than 70 percent of consumers agreed that mobile apps would be extremely important when purchasing their next handset. With the Motorola acquisition, the firm said, Google can now rival Apple's ecosystem.

Strategy Analytics' premise is that Apple built the iOS ecosystem on the strength of hardware and software releases that work together. Apple's development paradigm led to innovative apps and a platform that focuses more on experience than technical specifications. Although Google has innovated consistently with the Android platform, the firm noted, it has failed to effectively tie software upgrades to new hardware that developers could leverage to create new apps.

While other factors certainly played a critical role in the selection of Motorola as an acquisition target, Strategy Analytics said Google will be able to leverage the purchase of Motorola to address three critical flaws with Android: A subpar ecosystem for consumers and developers, APIs that are not specifically focused on improving usability, and fragmentation.

"Providing developers with an environment in which they can succeed will be critical to building long-term support - support which is essential to consumer interest," said Josh Martin, director of apps research at Strategy Analytics. "If handled correctly, the acquisition of Motorola could help Google make Android into a platform that offers unrivaled revenue opportunities."

Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 bn

Google shook up the mobile phone industry with the announcement it is buying US smartphone maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash in a bid to extend the reach of its Android platform.

The surprise move gives Google a strong patent portfolio to defend Android against lawsuits from rivals such as iPhone and iPad maker Apple and turns an Internet company known for its software into a hardware manufacturer.

Analysts said the acquisition also has major implications for handset makers such as Taiwan's HTC, South Korea's Samsung and others who are using Android to power their mobile devices.
Google and Motorola Mobility said the Internet titan will buy Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share.

Google and Motorola Mobility said their boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal - Google's largest acquisition ever, dwarfing its $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising firm DoubleClick.

Under the agreement, Motorola Mobility will remain an Android licensee and Google will run the unit, which employs 19,000 people and reported a net loss of $56 million last quarter, as a separate business.

Besides smartphones, Motorola Mobility is a leading maker of TV set-top boxes and analysts said the acquisition could see Google make a renewed push for Google TV, which merges online content with traditional TV programming.

Motorola Mobility also makes an Android-powered tablet computer, the Xoom, and Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg said Google has "shaken up the tablet market in a big way."
"Google no longer has to depend on third parties to deliver their vision to compete with the iPad," he said.

"Suddenly you have Google, already a serious platform player, becoming a serious integrated vendor from end-to-end for everything from phones to tablets to television sets," Gartenberg said.

Google chief executive Larry Page said Google and Motorola Mobility "will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers."

He said the deal will help protect Android against patent lawsuits targeting the open-source mobile operating system which Google provides to smartphone and tablet makers for free.

"Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google's patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies," he said.

Google bid earlier this year for 6,000 patents held by bankrupt Canadian firm Nortel but lost out to a consortium made up of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Blackberry maker Research in Motion and Japan's Sony.

Microsoft to buy Internet phone company Skype

US software giant Microsoft is all set to buy the Internet phone company Skype for $8.5 billion in cash as it battles to stay relevant in an online world dominated by Google and Apple.

Buying Skype is giving Microsoft Corp. a potentially valuable communications tool as it tries to make a bigger splash on the Internet and become a bigger force in the increasingly important smartphone market.

Skype boasts about 663 million users worldwide who make voice and video calls over the Internet.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer reportedly championed the deal, which was estimated to have a price tag of $8.5 billion in what would be the decades-old technology company's most expensive acquisition to date.

Skype was launched in 2003 by Estonian software developers who were part of the group that created peer-to-peer file-sharing service Kazaa.

Millions of people use Skype to make low cost or free phone calls over the Internet using their computers or smartphones.

Buying Skype could be a way for Microsoft to shed some of its business software image and gain momentum in a hot smartphone market at a time when Internet lifestyles are going mobile.

Skype in January closed a deal to buy Qik, a California startup that specializes in allowing people to use smartphones to stream video to Internet-linked friends in real time.

The acquisition came amid surging popularity of video chat using smartphones, tablets and desktop computers.

Skype handled 24.7 percent of all minutes spent on international phone calls last year and 40 percent of calls between Skype users were video, Skype chief executive Tony Bates said while announcing the Qik takeover.

Bates said Skype was also continuing its push into living rooms, expanding a line of televisions embedded with its Internet telephony service and even infusing the software in a Blu-ray player made by Panasonic.

Online auction giant eBay in 2009 sold most of its stake in Skype to an investment group that includes the two founders of the Web communications company. That deal valued Skype at $2.75 billion.

The firm, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, bypasses the standard telephone network by channeling voice and video calls over the Internet.

It allows users to call others free of charge and provides the ability to connect with land lines or mobile devices at low rates.

Skype last year announced plans for an initial public offering of stock and appeared on its way to profitability, but investors are evidently eager for a pay-off.

Vaunted technology blogger Om Malik wrote that Facebook could benefit greatly from Microsoft buying Skype. Microsoft owns a minor share of Facebook and powers Internet searches at the social networking service.

Facebook members would likely get access to Skype tools while Microsoft keeps the telephony service out of the hands of competitor Google, Malik said.

A Skype version 5.0 for Windows unveiled in October included a Facebook tab and integrated Facebook's news feed and phonebook into the Internet communications service.

A Skype buy could also play into Microsoft's efforts to promote its new Windows Phone 7 mobile software in a fierce smartphone market.

Microsoft joined forces in February with Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker. In an effort to radically change course and fight off encroaching competition, Nokia smartphones will be powered by Microsoft software, according to Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop.

Warner Music sold for $1.3 bn

The world's No. 3 recording company, Warner Music, is being acquired by Access Industries, which agreed to pay $8.25 a share and take on $2 bil in debt as well as $320 mil in cash. The deal comes as CD sales continue to drop and digital sales have flattened. Warner Music Group, known for artists like Eric Clapton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is now seen making steep cuts, after trimming its workforce to 3,700 from 5,100 in 2003.

EBay to buy GSI Commerce

Online marketplace operator EBay has said that it will pay $2.4 billion for GSI Commerce, which operates websites for retailers like Toys R Us and Bath & Body Works. EBay Inc., which runs its namesake site where users buy and sell items through auctions and fixed-price "Buy it Now" formats as well as online payments service PayPal, hopes the acquisition will bolster its ability to connect buyers and sellers around the world. GSI runs websites, packs and ships products and offers interactive marketing services to a variety of retailers. It has long-term contracts with 180 retailers, including Radio Shack, Ace Hardware and American Eagle Outfitters. EBay has been working on improving its eBay.com website by doing things such as revamping its home page, cutting upfront listing fees it charges sellers and bolstering its search engine. In an interview, eBay CEO John Donahoe said the GSI deal fits in with his company's efforts to help retailers grow. Lots of businesses need help doing things like generating demand for products, running their websites, delivering goods to customers, and growing their mobile sales, Donahoe said. GSI does this for large companies, and eBay and PayPal do this for small- and medium-sized companies, he said, which makes the acquisition a natural fit. The purchase might also help eBay compete with Seattle-based Amazon, which, in addition to selling many items directly, allows merchants to sell their products through its site and offers product fulfillment services, too. EBay is already involved with GSI through PayPal, which was integrated with GSI customers' sites last year. San Jose-based eBay said it will pay $29.25 per share. The $2.4 billion total is the second-largest amount eBay has paid for another company so far. In 2005 eBay paid at least $2.6 billion for Internet calling and messaging service Skype, which it has since sold.