acquisition

Facebook snatches up Parakey

Facebook on Thursday made its first acquisition. The social-networking site bought a Web start-up called Parakey.

Parakey was started by Firefox's two founders, Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. The site gives this description of the service: "Computers are frustrating. Creating documents, finding files, sharing information--why do everyday things still seem so tedious and counterintuitive? We hope that Parakey will make your life easier."

According to Inside Facebook, "Parakey is intended to be a platform for tools that can manipulate just about anything on your hard drive: e-mail, photos, videos, recipes, calendars."

What is Facebook planning … Read more

The ultimate open-source M&A 'poison pill'

Luis Villa commented on an earlier post wherein I had asked, "Why doesn't Oracle just buy Red Hat?" His remark was, "Because Red Hat employees would leave en masse."

Think about that. To the extent that an open-source company is driven by a culture of freedom, would-be purchasers might be put off by one of two things:… Read more

Linux seller Xandros acquires Scalix server software

Linux specialist Xandros has acquired Scalix, a seller of Linux-based server software for e-mail and calendar management, the companies announced Wednesday.

The acquisition expands Xandros' attempt to grow beyond its original roots as a desktop Linux supplier to a seller of a broader range of server products including Linux and management tools. Scalix is proprietary software, like competitor Microsoft Exchange but not Open-Xchange.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Scalix will operate as a separate subsidiary, New York-based Xandros said, but will be able to use Xandros resources and technology. Scalix will continue to support versions of Linux from … Read more

Google + Postini = 'a perfect fit'

I just got off the conference call on Google's $625 million cash acquisition of security firm Postini, which executives said is expected to close in the third quarter.

Basically, the move will enable Google to flesh out its Google Apps hosted applications, which include e-mail, calendar, instant messaging, Docs & Spreadsheets and Web page creation, with the security and government regulation compliance services that businesses need.

There wasn't much detail revealed on how the companies will integrate their products, but Google execs made it clear that Postini will continue to offer its services to other e-mail and IM … Read more

It's official: Google acquires GrandCentral

Google has just announced the much-rumored acquisition of communications service GrandCentral. TechCrunch broke the news about the acquisition last week and is now reporting the deal is rumored to be somewhere in the range of $50 million. Details about final price and terms are confidential.

This is Google's latest move into the telecommunications market and one of their biggest. For current GrandCentral customers, service will go uninterrupted. For users interested in signing up, GrandCentral is now limiting sign-ups to invitation only.

The other big change in place as of today is GrandCentral's RingShare service. Previously, users were able … Read more

Google buying GrandCentral, report says

Google is in talks to buy GrandCentral, which offers a way to merge all phone calls into one number, according to TechCrunch.

"We have a high degree of confidence that the deal has actually been closed. We are trying to nail down the acquisition price," writes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who speculates that Google could use the technology with its Gmail and Google Talk applications.

Google representatives said they do not comment on rumor or speculation and GrandCentral did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Getty Images buys music licensing start-up Pump Audio

Getty Images, which made a name for itself as a stock photography clearinghouse, announced Wednesday it has purchased Pump Audio, which licenses independent music to advertising and media clients. The price of the acquisition, according to a release from Getty, was $42 million.

This is the most recent in a series of moves on Getty's part to expand beyond photography and into the digital media sector. Last month, it launched a new division in the company to license video footage and other multimedia content, and over the past few months has chalked up a string of acquisitions, from amateur photography site Scoopt … Read more

Report: News Corp. to trade MySpace for a stake in Yahoo?

Here's a rumor we didn't see coming. The U.K.'s The Times is reporting that News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch-helmed company that purchased MySpace in 2005 for $580 million, may be willing to trade it. According to Times writer Dan Sabbagh's article, News Corp. is mulling a swap of MySpace to Yahoo in exchange for a 25 percent stake in the dot-com.

Interestingly enough, The Times is itself owned by News Corp. The parent company is allegedly "interested in a deal even if it means losing some control of MySpace because it would give the … Read more

What's behind the security acquisition spree?

It must be buying season in the security industry, because there seems to be a new acquisition announced each day. Two recent purchases grabbed my attention. Last week, IBM bought application firewall vendor Watchfire, adding the company to its Rational Software division. Not to be outdone, Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday grabbed application vulnerability tools vendor SPI Dynamics, adding value to another recent addition, Mercury. Why all the activity in the application security space?

1. Web applications are the binary equivalent of Swiss cheese. Many are written rapidly by developers who are paid to add new business logic and meet deadlines. Security … Read more