Neowin News Feed for: Buyout

Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to veteran US-based staff as AI investments surge

Hamid Ganji — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:32:01 +0000

A memo obtained by CNBC shows that Microsoft is planning to offer voluntary buyouts to its eligible U.S. employees. Read more...

Ubisoft founders reportedly teaming up with Tencent, considering taking the company private

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:38:01 +0000

Ubisoft founders the Guillemot Brothers is reportedly in talks with Chinese conglomerate Tencent to take the video game company private. Read more...

Elon Musk hints that Twitter deal may close on Friday

Steve Bennett — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 18:58:02 +0000

The much debated, and often contested, purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk looks like it's set to close on Friday after indication to bankers who are helping to fund the deal by Musk himself. Read more...

UK regulator puts up big hurdle in Microsoft-Activision deal, starts Phase 2 investigation

Usama Jawad — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 15:49:53 +0000

Microsoft has faced a major setback in the UK where the country's regulator has put up a hurdle in the form of a "Phase 2" investigation of the multi-billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Read more...

Unity rejects AppLovin's "unsolicited" $17.5 billion buyout offer

Usama Jawad — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:04:01 +0000

Unity's board has rejected mobile app monetization company AppLovin's surprising offer to purchase Unity for $17.5 billion. Instead, the firm will purchase AppLovin's competitor ironSource. Read more...

Twitter puts temporary ban on product changes to prevent sabotage from rogue employees

Usama Jawad — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 11:12:01 +0000

Twitter has reportedly put a temporary ban on product changes to preemptively prevent sabotage from employees who might go rogue following the deal with Elon Musk. Employees are divided on the topic. Read more...

Microsoft may be looking to buy Playground Games, the studio behind the Forza Horizon series

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 01:52:01 +0000

Details on a UK government website suggest Microsoft could already be in the process of buying out Playground Games, the studio behind the popular Forza Horizon open-world racing franchise. Read more...

Microsoft has reportedly reached an agreement to acquire GitHub

Hamza Jawad — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 04:44:01 +0000

According to a new report, Microsoft has agreed to acquire GitHub, the world's largest source code repository. The report also claims that a deal could be made official as soon as Monday. Read more...

A Microsoft acquisition of GitHub, valued at $2 billion, said to be in the works

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 00:20:01 +0000

A new report claims the Redmond giant is in serious talks over acquiring the largest source code repository in the world, last valued at $2 billion, given the impending departure of GitHub's CEO. Read more...

Former Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs' bid to take the company private gains momentum

Sharath Ravishankar — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 11:02:01 +0000

Paul Jacobs, ousted as CEO of Qualcomm after Broadcom's attempted hostile takeover last month, is now assembling potential buyers to take Qualcomm private, with him once again at its helm. Read more...

Qualcomm and Broadcom have agreed to meet Feb 14th to discuss offer

Faheemmuddeen Patel — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 15:10:02 +0000

Broadcom and Qualcomm have agreed to meet on February 14th to discuss the $121 billion acquisition offer. Qualcomm turned down a meeting for last weekend but now have had a change of heart. Read more...

In a new hostile takeover try, Broadcom raises bid for Qualcomm

Faheemmuddeen Patel — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 21:40:01 +0000

Broadcom has raised its bid for Qualcomm from the original offer back in November. The new bid prices Qualcomm's shares at $82 a piece, which is 17% higher than their original offer. Read more...

Shazam! Apple is indeed buying the popular "name-that-clip" app

John Keefer — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 19:02:06 +0000

In one of those rare times where "sources" were correct, both Apple and Shazam have confirmed that the iPhone maker has purchased the app that lets users identify song or video tidbits. What's next? Read more...

Report: Apple may be close to buying "identify-that-clip" app Shazam

John Keefer — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 22:50:02 +0000

While the report is unconfirmed, Apple could indeed be setting itself up for another avenue to drive people to Apple Music or its future AR endeavors. The deal could be worth as much as £300 million. Read more...

Qualcomm shoots down Broadcom buyout bid as "undervalued"

John Keefer — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 18:38:02 +0000

In a move that is not totally unexpected, Qualcomm's board of directors has rejected the $130 billion, $70-per-share offer from Broadcom as "undervalued." Broadcom still plans to pursue a merger deal. Read more...

Electronic Arts swoops in, buys Titanfall dev Respawn Entertainment

Florin Bodnarescu — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 16:24:02 +0000

In a deal worth more than $450 million in cash, milestone bonuses, and equity, EA will be acquiring Respawn Entertainment. No layoffs, restructurings, or cancellations are tied to the acquisition. Read more...

After asking for $1 billion discount, Verizon might abandon Yahoo! purchase altogether

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 18 Oct 2016 11:02:01 +0000

Verizon might be looking to back out of its deal to purchase Yahoo! The company believes the recent revelations of Yahoo leaking user data on 500 million e-mail accounts will have a lasting impact. Read more...

Intel buys out rival Altera for $16.7 billion

Vlad Dudau — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:34:02 +0000

Intel, one of the largest chipmakers around, is buying one of its rivals, Altera. The latter was focused on specialized processors that are increasingly being used alongside traditional servers. Read more...

Microsoft's Salesforce.com acquisition falls through due to price disagreements

Camden Krupala — Fri, 22 May 2015 22:10:01 +0000

Talks between Microsoft and Salesforce.com have reportedly come to an end as the companies failed to reach an agreement on price, with Salesforce reportedly wanting as much as $15 billion more. Read more...

Microsoft is reportedly 'evaluating' a potential takeover of BlackBerry

Camden Krupala — Fri, 22 May 2015 07:46:01 +0000

Don't freak out too much. Microsoft isn't planning on buying BlackBerry anytime soon, but they are evaluating the possibility of such a takeover. Leather and carbon fiber clad Windows Phones anybody? Read more...

BT agrees deal to buy EE for £12.5 billion

Vlad Dudau — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 10:04:01 +0000

BT has officially announced that they are buying EE, the UK's largest 4G operator, for $19 billion paid out in cash and stock. The deal is expected to go through by early next year. Read more...

BlackBerry agrees to sell to Fairfax for $4.7 billion

George Tinari — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 21:57:24 +0000

BlackBerry has agreed to accept a buyout offer from Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, which will offer a total $4.7 billion for the company and bring it back into privacy. Read more...

Michael Dell wants to stay with Dell even if buyout fails

John Callaham — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:21:15 +0000

In a new interview, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell says he will still like to stay with the PC company he created even if his plan to take the business private fails in an upcoming shareholder vote Read more...

Thousands of Tumblr blogs migrate to Wordpress after Yahoo deal

Max Slater-Robins — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:28:35 +0000

Many Tumblr users are not happy that Yahoo have stepped in to buy the company, despite reports that it was finically unsound, and it looks like some users are voting with their feet. Read more...

Whatsapp: We're not holding sales talks with Google

Steven Parker — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:40:47 +0000

Yesterday, it appeared that the Whatsapp messenger service might be Google's next big acquisition in a potential $1 billion buyout. Today, it's nothing more than fantasy talk and denial. Read more...

Google planning to offer BBM like service by purchasing WhatsApp?

Andrew Stevenson — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:55:00 +0000

Rumours are flying around that Google is in talks to purchase WhatsApp, expanding their services into the mobile messaging space, and to further develop their rumoured Google Babble service. Read more...

Rumor: Microsoft wants a say in Dell's business if it helps with buyout

John Callaham — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:28:02 +0000

Speculation mounts that Microsoft wants to have a say in Dell's business if it helps the PC maker complete its move to a private company by giving it $2 billion or more. Read more...

Microsoft rumored to be part of Dell buyout, may chip in 1-3 billion dollars

Brad Sams — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:26:39 +0000

A new report from CNBC is stating that Microsoft is apart of a group that is proposing to help with a leveraged buyout of Dell and the company may be looking to toss in 1-3 billion dollars. Read more...

Dell buyout talks advancing, loans being lined up

Andrew Stevenson — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:57:28 +0000

With talks of a Dell buyout breaking earlier this week, it looks like Silver Lakes, the private equity firm looking to complete the deal, has four major banks lined up to finance the deal. Read more...

Is Best Buy's founder planning to take it private?

Tyler Holman — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:10:07 +0000

The Wall Street Journal thinks that Best Buy founder Richard Schulze's abrupt resignation from the company's board could be part of a plan to buy-out the company and take it private again. Read more...

Go Daddy Sold in $2.25 billion deal

James Woodfin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 03:06:32 +0000

Go Daddy, the world's largest registrar of domains, has been sold to a group of private equity firms. Reuters previously reported a few hours ago that the company was in talks to be sold. The... Read more...

Microsoft tried to acquire Facebook for $15 billion

Brad Sams — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:51:09 +0000

A lot of people thought Mark Zuckerberg was crazy when he turned down Yahoo's $1 billion offer, but it now turns out that he also declined a $15 billion offer from Microsoft in 2007. This... Read more...

Dell unlikely to be purchasing Acer in their buying spree

Sam Symons — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:09:34 +0000

Dell's been on a bit of a buying spree recently; according to the head honcho, Michael Dell, they have a 'portfolio of acquisitions' that they're looking at to help boost earnings, but according to Bloomberg,... Read more...

Yahoo seeks social media acquisition

Mitchell LeBlanc — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:10:20 +0000

While much news has surrounded Yahoo in regards to its own acquisition, at the hands of Microsoft, reports indicate that Yahoo is doing some shopping of its own. Ari Balogh, Chief Technology Officer told Reuters,... Read more...

[Update] Rumor: Apple to buy Twitter?

Kevin Weiner — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:48:06 +0000

It looks like the rumor mill is heating up again, because according to Tech Crunch, Apple may be looking into buying Twitter. One source says, "Apple is in late stage negotiations to buy Twitter and... Read more...

Oracle to buy Sun for $7.4 billion

Michael Stanclift — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:43:40 +0000

Sun Microsystems and Oracle Corporation announced today they have entered into an agreement under which Oracle will acquire Sun. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, with Oracle purchasing Sun stock with cash for... Read more...

IBM said to be buying Sun Microsystems for $7B

Sam Symons — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:47:46 +0000

The company IBM is currently negotiating a deal in which it will buy Sun Microsystems for the hefty sum of US$7 billion. The deal will be a very important one, and according to The NY... Read more...

Seagate: No Buyout Offer from Chinese Company

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:28:11 +0000

Contrary to previous reports, Seagate Technology has announced the world's largest disk drive maker has not received an offer to be acquired by any foreign or domestic company and that it is not for sale.... Read more...

Microsoft Closes $6 billion Buyout of aQuantive

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 21:48:45 +0000

As part of an online advertising push designed to leapfrog Yahoo and present a serious challenge to Google, Microsoft has just closed a $6 billion deal with digital marketing company aQuantive. As the software industry... Read more...

Nokia-Palm Buyout Reports Baffle Some Experts

Daniel Fleshbourne — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:23:26 +0000

Recent reports that Nokia Corp. is in talks to buy Palm Inc. surprise some analysts, who nonetheless said some type of buyout might make sense and could even be a good thing for customers. According... Read more...