Mergers and Acquisitions

Mar 28, 2014 ∞

Facebook buys virtual reality company Oculus

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting virtual reality will follow mobile as the next major communication paradigm. While I’m not sure that’s true with VR tech alone, the massive user base and data stores of Facebook, used wisely despite a minefield of privacy concerns, may be just what VR needs to go mainstream.

That of course assumes Oculus can get the tech to a mass-marketable state. With a $350 developer hardware kit, consumer-level pricing looks within reach. So perhaps Zuckerberg is onto something. But it’s easy to be social when you’re clicking around in a browser. The real question is whether people will have any interest in a totally immersive digital social experience.

Nov 26, 2012 ∞

UPDATED: Google Acquires Wi-Fi Provider ICOA for $400 Million

Updated: This is not true.

Angela Moscaritolo of PCMag.com reports:

In a statement, Google said it made the acquisition to “further diversify its already impressive portfolio of companies.” The Web giant did not elaborate about its motivation for the deal.

You don’t spent $400 million on something that isn’t strategically important to your business. I predict that Google WiFi will launch in 2013.

Nov 21, 2012 ∞

FBI examining HP/Autonomy accounting debacle

HP’s got ninety-nine problems, but a recently-acquired pattern recognition company with possibly-dishonest accounting practices ain’t…

…oh, nevermind.

Nov 20, 2012 ∞

H.P. Takes Huge Charge on 'Accounting Improprieties' at Autonomy

H.P. Takes Huge Charge on ‘Accounting Improprieties’ at Autonomy

Michael J. de la Merced and Quentin Hardy, for the Times’ DealBook:

The charge essentially wiped out its profit.

The headline should say “outright misrepresentations,” not “accounting improprieties,” because the former is far more serious than the latter, and both are true.

HP hired Deloitte to review Autonomy’s books during the acquisition’s due diligence phase. Then they hired KPMG to audit Deloitte’s audit of Autonomy. Only after a former Autonomy employee tipped them off did they hire PricewaterhouseCoopers, who discovered Autonomy sold hardware at a loss, despite calling itself a successful software-only company.

Whoops. And it gets worse.

Go read it for yourself. I can’t take any more of this crap.