M&A

1) Google and Rights Flow New York: Google Inc's YouTube online video division has acquired RightsFlow, a firm that manages royalty payments for songwriters and music publishers, for an undisclosed amount. Founded in 2007, RightsFlow handles licencing rights for more than 30 million songs. "We are excited to announce that we have acquired RightsFlow, a New York-based company that helps songwriters, recording artists, record labels, distributors and online music services manage music rights," YouTube Product Manager David King said in its blog yesterday. However, financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. The deal would help video-sharing service YouTube to efficiently license music. "By combining RightsFlow's expertise and technology with YouTube's platform, we hope to more rapidly and efficiently license music on YouTube, meaning more music for you all to enjoy, and more money for the talented people producing the music," King added.

2) WALT DISNEY INCREASES SHARE HOLDING IN WALT DISNEY

Thursday, Dec 08, 2011

Mumbai: Bucking the weak broader market, shares of UTV Software Communications rose by more than 4 per cent on the bourses today after the government approved the proposal of US-based Walt Disney Co's Singapore subsidiary to increase its stake in the company to 100 per cent. Cheering the news, shares of the company opened on a robust note .The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal in its meeting yesterday. As per the proposal, the Singapore subsidiary of Walt Disney Company -- Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte Ltd -- will increase its shareholding in UTV Communications on a diluted basis to 100 per cent from 48.02 per cent at present. "This approval is expected to result in FDI inflows amounting to Rs 8,250 crore," according to an official release. 3) Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal purchases stake in Twitter

Monday, Dec 19, 2011

Dubai: Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, an investor in some of the world's top companies, on Monday unveiled a $300 million stake purchase in fast-growing microblogging site Twitter, gaining another foothold in the global media industry. Alwaleed, a nephew of the Saudi king with a personal net worth estimated by Forbes magazine in March to be just below $20 billion, already owns a 7 per cent stake in News Corp and has unveiled plans to start a cable news channel.

The Twitter stake, bought jointly by Alwaleed and his Kingdom Holding Co investment firm, resulted from months of negotiations, Kingdom said in a statement. Applying an $8 billion valuation figure for Twitter used by some analysts, the investment by Alwaleed and Kingdom amounts to a 3.75 per cent stake. Twitter said in September that was in no hurry to undertake a hotly anticipated initial public offering. It raised $400 million in venture capital financing this summer. Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, highgrowth businesses with a global impact, Alwaleed said in the statement. 4) Seagate acquires Samsung HDD Business

Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011

Mumbai: The US-based hard disk supplier Seagate Technology today said it has completed the acquisition of Samsung Electronic's hard-disk drive (HDD) business. Seagate had announced acquisition of Samsung's HDD business in April for USD 1.4 billion in a cash and stock deal. Under the deal, Samsung will transfer its HDD business to Seagate and in return will get about a 9.6 per cent stake or 45.2 million shares of Seagate valued at USD 687.5 million. The deal will substantially expand Seagate's access in China, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Germany and Russia, and will significantly increase the ownership position of Samsung in Seagate. The strategic relationship will open new opportunities for the two companies by mutually complementing each other's creative technology solutions for a broad diversity of IT applications," Samsung Vice-Chairman for Device Solutions Oh-Hyun Kwon said. 5) Dion Global Solutions acquires Investmaster New Delhi: Dion Global Solutions, a software solutions provider for financial markets, today said it has acquired UK-based wealth management and stock broking software provider Investmaster Group for an undisclosed amount. Pursuant to the acquisition, Dion's presence in the UK would increase significantly, as Investmaster has combined assets under management exceeding 28 billion pounds and over 800 users across the UK and Ireland, Dion Global Solutions said in a statement. The Investmaster business will be rebranded as Dion Global Solutions, the statement said, adding that Peter Little will continue as CEO and there will not be any change in the management team and its staff. "Combined with the added products, investment and market expertise that Dion can offer, Investmaster is a key element in the wider Dion brand," Dion Global CEO and Managing Director Ralph Horne said. Commenting on the development, Investmaster CEO Peter Little said: "Dion's deep domain expertise and approach to business makes them a trusted partner to businesses they work with." Shares of Dion Global Solutions surged as much as 17 per cent in morning trade on the BSE to an early high of Rs 33.60

6) Facebook and Gowalla New York: Social networking website Facebook has acquired mobile application firm Gowalla for an undisclosed amount. The Gowalla application allows people to share their location and favorite places with friends. Josh Williams, one of the founders of Gowalla, announced in a company blog that talks with Facebook started after F8, the Facebook developer conference held in September. "We were blown away by Facebook's new developments. A few weeks later Facebook called and it became clear that the way for our team to have the biggest impact was to work together. So we're excited to announce that we'll be making the journey to California to join Facebook," Williams said. However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Gowalla, as an independent service, however, will be winding down at the end of January. Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla's user data as part of the acquisition, he added. Last month, Facebook acquired two firms -- Strobe and MailRank -- for an undisclosed amount in a bid to expand its services on smartphones. Strobe provides technology that helps developers create and distribute applications that work on devices like smartphones and tablet PCs, while MailRank prioritises e-mail so that the user can focus on the content that really matter