mergers-acquisitions

The stakes have been raised yet again in the ongoing saga to acquire storage vendor Data Domain.

EMC announced Monday that it has upped its bid for Data Domain to $33.50 per share in cash, a deal worth about $2.1 billion. The company said its all-cash offer is "clearly superior" to NetApp's proposal of $30 per share in cash and stock.

In a letter to Data Domain Chairman Aneel Bhusri, EMC further strengthened its claim by stating that it has removed all deal-protection provisions from the offer as a way of maximizing value for Data … Read more

Update at 7:25 a.m. PDT: Updated stock information added and headline updated.

Sun Microsystems shares soared more than 10 percent in premarket trading on Thursday, following a Bloomberg report that the struggling hardware maker was interested in resuming merger talks with IBM.

Sun climbed nearly 10.8 percent to $6.79 a share in premarket trading. But as the markets opened for regular trading, Sun's shares settled back to a more modest uptick of 2.77 percent to $6.30 a share. The broader markets were mixed.

Either way, its stock remains a ways off from the $… Read more

Updated at 11:36 a.m. PST with information on Google's share price performance and an analyst note.

Yahoo shares rose in morning trading on Monday on reports that the company is in preliminary talks for an advertising partnership with Microsoft.

Yahoo's stock was up as much as 7.6 percent to $14.49 in early-morning trading, a level it hasn't seen since early October. Yahoo's gains also went against the tide of the broader markets, which were down in morning trading.

The bump in Yahoo's share price follows reports on Friday that the Internet … Read more

Shares of Sun Microsystems suffered a staggering jolt Monday, following reports that the hardware maker rejected IBM's formal bid over the weekend and Big Blue has withdrawn its offer.

Sun's stock plummeted nearly 23 percent to $6.68 a share in premarket trading, following reports in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that the company rejected a formal buyout bid of $9.40 a share or less, and terminated an exclusive negotiating agreement, prompting IBM to withdraw its offer.

Sun's shares closed at $8.49 a share during the regular trading session on Friday. … Read more

Updated at 7:13 p.m. PDT, with comment from Sun Microsystems and market share information for both companies.

Sun Microsystems rejected IBM's formal buyout offer on Saturday, calling the bid insufficient and putting future deal talks at risk, according to a report Sunday in The Wall Street Journal.

IBM reportedly made a formal bid of $9.40 a share, or less, for Sun, which in turn rejected the offer and terminated Big Blue's right to exclusive merger talks, the Journal reported. IBM, in turn, withdrew its buyout offer.

In addition to holding a belief that the bid … Read more

After weeks of negotiations, IBM reportedly is eyeing a $9.55-per-share buyout for Sun Microsystems, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Such a price would value the deal at roughly $7 billion and offer Sun investors nearly double the price of the stock before reports surfaced earlier this month that the parties are in buyout talks.

A report in The New York Times, meanwhile, notes the parties are discussing a purchase price of $9.50 a share.

In either case, Sun's investors haven't seen the hardware maker's stock trade at those levels since August. … Read more

IBM has reportedly cut its purchase price for Sun Microsystems to a range of $9 to $10 a share. And Sun is apparently willing to accept the lower range providing IBM agrees to pursue the deal, even in the face of antitrust scrutiny, according to a report Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.

Previously, IBM was contemplating a buyout price of $10 to $11 a share, according to the Journal. Big Blue had recently been delving into Sun Microsystems' contracts for any possible conflicts, as part of its due diligence on the company.

Sun Microsystems stock spiked 6.25 percent … Read more

With venture-backed companies failing to launch IPOs and with mergers and acquisitions lagging, liquidity for venture capitalists fell 65 percent in the first quarter, according to a report released Wednesday by Dow Jones VentureSource.

During the first quarter, $3.2 billion in liquidity was generated--a sharp contrast with $9.1 billion from a year ago and around the level seen in 2003. Because no initial public offerings took place in the first quarter, all of the $3.2 billion was generated from venture-backed companies selling themselves to the highest bidder.

Those two types of transactions are how VCs and investors … Read more

Sun Microsystems shares fell as low as about 13 percent Monday afternoon, steeper than the declines experienced by the broader markets. Investors, who are awaiting word on whether speculation of an IBM merger will become a reality, apparently were spooked, sending shares as low as $6.82 a share in afternoon trading.

Shares of Sun lost 59 cents to close at $7.24, down about 7.5 percent, Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, fell as low as about 4 percent to 7,437.59 during intra-day trading and the Nasdaq dipped about 4 percent to 1,484.98. … Read more