US Airways CEO Talks Up Merger – The Wall Street Journal.

April 20, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

US Airways CEO Talks Up Merger

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577355702230689964.html

US Airways Group Inc. LCC -2.51%trumpeted support on Friday from the three main unions at AMR Corp.’s American Airlines for a possible merger that would create a new airline giant and potentially further rationalize a perennially struggling industry.

The move by US Airways capped weeks of negotiations aimed at an end run around AMR Chief Executive Tom Horton, who is vying to reorganize American as a stand-alone airline and insists any merger discussions wait until the company emerges from bankruptcy proceedings. The US Airways-union alliance increased pressure for a deal days ahead of AMR executives’ expected request for a bankruptcy judge to allow it to reject existing labor contracts.

Filed under I. Creating Joint Value, IV. Corporate Strategy

In Facebook Deal, Board Was Little Involved – The Wall Street Journal.

April 18, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

In Facebook Deal, Board Was Little Involved

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304818404577350191931921290.html

On the morning of Sunday, April 8, Facebook Inc.’s youthful chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, alerted his board of directors that he intended to buy Instagram, the hot photo-sharing service.

It was the first the board heard of what, later that day, would become Facebook’s largest acquisition ever, according to several people familiar with the matter. Mr. Zuckerberg and his counterpart at Instagram, Kevin Systrom, had already been talking over the deal for three days, these people said.

Filed under II. Governing Collaboration, IV. Corporate Strategy

Pfizer weighs plans for $3bn part-IPO – FT.com

April 17, 2012 Leave a comment

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5be17b12-59a3-11e1-8d36-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1sM3AfXHu

Pfizer is weighing plans to raise about $3bn this year through a part-flotation of its animal health division, as the drugs giant examines the best way to spin off a business valued at as much as $18bn.

The pharmaceuticals group, the world’s second largest by market capitalisation, has been talking to bankers about arranging an initial public offering that would look to place up to 19.9 per cent of the unit’s shares in the autumn, in what is known as an equity carve-out or partial spinoff, people familiar with the talks said.

Filed under IV. Corporate Strategy

Chinese Capital Flows to Japanese Firms – The Wall Street Journal.

April 16, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Chinese Capital Flows to Japanese Firms

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303624004577339231693607396.html

TOKYO—As the fortunes of Asia’s two largest economies diverge, Chinese companies are stepping up acquisitions in Japan—a trend likely to accelerate as it relies on China’s growing wealth to help rebuild Japan’s businesses.

Over the past several months, Chinese companies have stepped in to save a string of Japanese companies that were desperate for funding.

Filed under III. Global Strategy

Microsoft Names New China Managers – The Wall Street Journal.

April 14, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Microsoft Names New China Managers

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303624004577341453007507224.html

Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.65%reorganized its leadership in China, as the company continues to contend with software piracy in world’s largest personal-computer market and regulations barring sales of its Xbox 360 game console.

Filed under I. Industry Analysis

Smartphone Patents: Never-Ending War – The Wall Street Journal.

April 13, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Smartphone Patents: Never-Ending War

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303624004577339931560320116.html

Customers shopping for Apple Inc.’s AAPL +1.16%iPhone might pay little attention to the gadget’s “slide to unlock” feature, but you would never know that from a quick glance at Apple’s current roster of patent lawsuits.

The technology giant has secured two key U.S. patents on slide-to-unlock—a technology that lets users wake a dormant phone with a finger-swipe across the screen. And it is wielding those patents like swords against rivals around the world.

Filed under II. Competitor Analysis, III. Competing in Constellations

Instagram purchase born of rising mobile paranoia – Rethink Wireless

April 13, 2012 Leave a comment

http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2012/04/12/instagram-purchase-born-rising-mobile-paranoia.htm

Thousands of column inches have understandably been written about Facebook’s $1bn acquisition of mobile photo sharing start-up Instagram. Whether the smaller firm is worth this huge sum is hardly relevant, but comparisons with the dotcom bubble are superficial. The apparently ridiculous valuations for companies like Instagram are not being driven by over-optimistic enthusiasm for a new market, as at the turn of the century, but by paranoia and a deep fear of failure in the mobile world.

Filed under III. Competing in Constellations, IV. Corporate Strategy

Google’s $12 Billion Toy – The Wall Street Journal.

April 11, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Google’s $12 Billion Toy

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304587704577335990254389120.html

Here’s a business riddle: Divine Google Inc.’s GOOG +1.27%intentions for its largest-ever acquisition, the $12.5 billion purchase of the once-great, now-faltering Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. MMI -16.67%

Motorola represents one of the thorniest strategic and operational challenges in Google’s 14-year history. Oddly, few seem to be paying attention.

THEGAME

When investors parsed Google’s deal announcement in August, they focused on how Motorola’s 17,000 patents will protect Google’s market-leading Android mobile operating system from legal assault.

But what of the 20,500 Motorola employees working in 92 major facilities across 97 countries, from Horsham, Pa., to Jaguariuna, Brazil? What of the factories churning out low-margin cellphones and cable-TV boxes? What of the five years of losses, some $5.3 billion in all?

Filed under I. Creating Joint Value, IV. Corporate Strategy

Can Retailers Halt ‘Showrooming’? – The Wall Street Journal.

April 11, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Can Retailers Halt ‘Showrooming’?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304587704577334370670243032.html

Shoppers who scope out merchandise in stores but buy on rivals’ websites, usually at a lower price, have become the bête noire of many big-box retailers.

The trend, known as “showrooming,” hurts the bottom lines of traditional stores while benefiting online-only retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., AMZN +0.09%which have the advantage of lower overhead costs and mostly can skirt the collection of sales tax.

Filed under I. Industry Analysis

Tech Patents Soar in Value – The Wall Street Journal.

April 10, 2012 Leave a comment

I thought you would be interested in the following story on WSJ.com.

Tech Patents Soar in Value

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304587704577334122637021442.html

The technology patent arms race is heating up—again.

Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT +0.65%agreement to spend nearly $1.1 billion buying and licensing about 1,100 patents covering some of the Internet’s basic plumbing from AOL Inc. AOL +1.06%spotlights the ongoing boom in spending among tech titans for what amounts to the Internet era’s nuclear deterrence.

“This has been a gradual evolution of patents from simple legal assets to strategic financial assets,” said Mark Radcliffe, a partner at law firm DLA Piper who specializes in intellectual property.

PATENT

Filed under I. Industry Analysis

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