Mergers and Acquistions: June 2008 Archives
Microsof announced it intends to acquire MobiComp, supplier of backup and restoration of mobile data and mobile posting of social content to websites such as Facebook. The acquisition would combine MobiComp’s expertise building imobile data protection and sharing services with Microsoft’s platforms across mobile phones, the web and PCs. Terms of the planned acquisition are not being disclosed.
The Portugal-based company is known for a variety of breakthrough mobile services including MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, and Active mTicker. These services help mobile operators and people round the world back up personal content stored on a phone, publish updates to online communities, and get entertainment and news content delivered to phones.
MobiComp will contribute to a rapidly expanding list of offerings from Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business while continuing to serve its existing partners and customers, which include 11 mobile operators worldwide.
Verizon Wireless has entered into an agreement with Alltel
Corporation and Atlantis Holdings LLC, to acquire Alltel
Corporation in a cash merger. Verizon Wireless will acquire the equity of Alltel for approximately $5.9 billion. Based on Alltel's projected net debt at closing of $22.2 billion, the aggregate value of the transaction is $28.1 billion. The deal will make Verizon Wireless the #1 wireless operator in the U.S. with nearly 80 million subscribers.
The merger should be completed by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval.
Alltel and Verizon Wireless both use the same network technology - CDMA using the Qualcomm's BREW platform for content delivery. Alltel also has recently said it plans to migrate to the LTE technology for its 4G path, the same technology Verizon plans to deploy.
Mobile content provider of infrastructure
and services, Motricity, announced that it has sold its smartphone and direct-to-consumer
businesses to an entity owned by Motricity co-founder, former board member and
executive 27 year-old Jud Bowman. The new company will operate going forward as PocketGear, Inc.The sale includes Motricity's direct-to-consumer businesses PocketGear.com, SymbianGear.com, PalmGear.com, Smartphone.net, Mobile2Day.de, and smartphone application storefronts powered for partners including Palm, Sony Ericsson and AOL.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In conjunction with the closing of the transaction, Bowman has resigned his position on the Motricity board of directors. The company announced layoffs earlier this year.
