• Microsoft and Nokia to Begin Acquisition Talks Next Week

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, Featured, Microsoft, News, Nokia, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    Nokia is set to begin discussing the possibility of an acquisition by Microsoft, according to industry insider Eldar Murtazin. The blogger, who has a proven track record of disseminating accurate intel, says negotiations will begin next week and the results will not immediately be made public. If the two giants do work out a sale, however, it could close before the end of 2011. It seems that the deal of selling Nokia to Microsoft is now on the table. Exactly one week ago Microsoft has acquired the Internet Telephony Skype for $8.5 Billion. Is Nokia coming the next?!

    Today Eldar Murtazin had this quip on his blog:

    Next week Nokia will start the negotiations about the sale of it’s phone unit to Microsoft. For now the results of the negotiations won’t be public, but the deal might close before the end of 2011. Both companies are in a big hurry.

    If this came from any other source, I probably would have dismissed it. But coming from a guy who broke the news about the first Nokia Windows Phone deal, weeks before it happened. I’m starting to wonder if this is really the beginning of the end of Nokia?

    Nokia PR team stepped in on this issue here in comments and on Twitter with a sort of denial:

    We normally don’t comment on rumours as you know, but we have to say that Eldar’s rumours are obviously getting less accurate with every passing moment.

    Eldar Murtazin went on to say:

    While casting some doubts – it actually does not sound like and outright denial. Something along the lines of “We are not in any negotiations about the sale of the company and do not have any plans to enter into one” – would have sounded more convincing. But I’m not sure if even that would help much at this point.

    All it takes, is a look back about how the original story about Nokia Windows phone deal unfolded, and how surprised people at all levels below the very top were. I bet that in January very few people at Nokia were aware that dropping Symbian and Meego, and going Windows Phone 100% was even an option.

  • Microsoft is About to Announce a Partnership Deal with Chinese Search Company Baidu

    // Gradly // blog, Microsoft, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    According to sources in Chinese press, Microsoft is close to announcing a deal with Chinese search giant Baidu. Both parties will officially sign a strategic agreement at the end of this week, both sides will co-operation in the field of search, but specific details of cooperation is not revealed. Insiders speculated that Microsoft’s Bing (bing) using Baidu PPC services provided. More details roughly translated below:

    In 2006, Microsoft has reached an agreement with Baidu, Microsoft MSN, Live, and other Microsoft partner Web site to start the search service provided by Baidu bid ranking services. It is known that the Beta version of Microsoft’s bing was introduced in June 2009 in China, in China’s market share is still very limited, according to Analysys think tank Enfodesk industry database data display, in the last quarter of 2011 China search engine operators market share, Baidu accounted for 75.8%, Google accounted for 19.2% in China. Total market share to both 95%.

    Since “Google out of China” when an event occurs, Microsoft has been looking for partners in China, to help make Microsoft a major force in one of China Internet search market. Microsoft Senior VP Ya-Qin Zhang said Beijing in Asia mainly focused on Bing Microsoft (Bing) English version of the research and development, and there are relatively few personnel engaged in research and development of the Chinese version of bing.

    Reports also suggest a deal could be announced as early as next week.

    It looks like Baidu is taking over the paid ads on Bing China, and Bing will provide the English language results for Baidu. Bing is a tiny player in China’s search market. Perhaps by striking a partnership with the biggest search engine there, it can gain some traction. The deal could be announced next week.

    Microsoft has recently acquired the Internet communication service Skype for $8.5 billion.

  • Microsoft Has Acquired Skype For $8.5 Billions

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, Featured, Microsoft, News 2 Responses

    As reported early today, Microsoft has officially announced on Tuesday the acquisition of Skype.

    The software giant announced the deal on Tuesday, valued at $8.5 billion cash. Both Skype and Microsoft’s board of directors have approved the deal and Microsoft will create a new business division especially for Skype. Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

    Microsoft and Skype today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Skype.

    The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.

    With 170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010, Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally. Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.

    Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

    [Image courtesy winrumors]

  • Microsoft To Acquire Skype For $8.5 Billion

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, Featured, Microsoft, News, Rants & Raves 1 Response

    Following The WSJ report tonight which shows Microsoft, in what would be its most aggressive acquisition in the digital space, was getting closer on buying the online telephony and video communications giant Skype for $8.5 billion all in with an assumption of the company’s debt–$686 million.

    Kara of AllThingsD has confirmed the deal is actually done and will be announced early tomorrow morning.

    The purchase is a bold move for the software giant and its biggest acquisition in more than three decades.

    The big price will give Microsoft–which has struggled in its online efforts and has lost billions of dollars for its work–a big brand name on the Web.

    With Skype, which has been aggressively expanding, Microsoft will continue to lose money in its Internet efforts. Skype lost $7 million on revenue of $860 million. Operating profits, which Skype highlighted, were $264 million.

    But, sources said, the concept is bigger than just money, including getting access to Skype’s 663 million registered users.

    Skype has had a big-company owner before–eBay Inc. paid $2.6 billion in cash and stock for it in 2005, as a way for the auction site’s buyers and sellers to communicate.

    Facebook and Nokia seemed to be interested in the acquisition too:

    Other suitors have looked at Skype, including Google, although acquisition interest by Facebook was very much overblown, said several sources.

    Interestingly, Microsoft’s new smartphone partner Nokia also held meetings with Skype’s CEO Tony Bates, a former Cisco exec who arrived at the company relatively recently.

    Update:

    The deal confirmed by Microsoft