Tag Archives: Acquisition

Cisco’s Acquisition of Splunk: A Game-Changer in Data Management and Security

March 22, 2024 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Cisco has announced the acquisition of Splunk for a whopping USD$28 billion. Cisco’s acquisition of Splunk marks a pivotal moment in data management and security. With the ink now dry on the deal, Cisco is equipped to change the way organizations harness data to navigate the digital landscape.

In today’s digital age, connectivity and security are paramount. Companies need to seamlessly integrate their people, applications, and devices while safeguarding against cybersecurity threats and downtime. With Splunk now in its arsenal, Cisco is set to deliver an unmatched level of visibility and insights across the entire digital footprint of organizations.

Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco, expressed excitement about the acquisition, emphasizing the transformative potential it holds. By leveraging data in innovative ways, Cisco aims to empower organizations to make data-driven decisions and safeguard their operations in the age of artificial intelligence.

Gary Steele, Executive Vice President of Splunk, echoed Robbins’ sentiment, highlighting the unparalleled value that Cisco will bring to customers worldwide with Splunk’s innovative technologies. The coming together of Cisco and Splunk will provide comprehensive visibility and insights, enabling organizations to enhance resilience and tackle the most complex challenges head-on.

With the convergence of Cisco’s network expertise and Splunk’s cutting-edge solutions, customers can expect a slew of benefits across security, observability, networking, and AI. Together, Cisco and Splunk will offer a holistic suite of solutions that streamline operations, enhance security, and drive business value.

Industry experts have lauded the merger, recognizing its potential to unlock new levels of business value. Stephen Elliot from IDC emphasized the transformative nature of the combination, while Julie Sweet from Accenture expressed optimism about the collaboration’s potential to drive innovation for clients.

Looking ahead, customers can anticipate a wave of new product innovations as Cisco integrates Splunk’s capabilities into its portfolio. These innovations will be showcased at upcoming events, including Cisco Live and .conf24, providing customers with a glimpse into the future of data management and security.

In terms of the transaction details, Cisco acquired Splunk for $157 per share in cash, amounting to approximately USD$28 billion in equity value. The transaction is expected to drive revenue growth and margin expansion for Cisco, positioning the company for long-term success in the evolving digital landscape.

With the completion of the acquisition, Cisco and Splunk are ready to embark on a new chapter of innovation and collaboration. Together, they are poised to redefine the standards of data management and security, empowering organizations to thrive in the digital age.

News

Microsoft Merger With Activision-Blizzard Hits A Snag

December 6, 2022 Thina Hareesh Leave a comment

The mega merger between Microsoft and video game publisher Activision-Blizzard may be under threat by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

As first reported by Politico, their sources have stated that the FTC is ““likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard.” The FTC has concerns on the deal, primarily due to the large sum involved in the merger between these tech giants. FTC Chairperson Lina Khan has called for scrutiny on the impact of the deal on workers.

At the moment, there is no official word on a lawsuit against the merger, Politico themselves report that it is not guaranteed. Currently, investigations are ongoing, with major steps already completed such as depositions by CEO’s Satya Nadella (Microsoft) and Bobby Kotick (Activision). If the FTC decides to move forward with a case, it could come as early as December.

Why could the merger be controversial?

FTC Chairman Lina Khan is opposed to the merger, scrutinizing its impact on the market and workers. Image source: Getty Images via New York Post

There is precedence in this matter as the FTC has previously stopped the merger of book publishers Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster for a more modest fee of $2.2 billion. In that case, the ruling stated that the merger had the potential to be anticompetitive, which can affect both authors and indirectly, consumers. A similar scenario could occur in the tech giants merger, where there is less competition among game publishers which could promote less lucrative publishing deals for game developers.

As discussed by Kotaku, Microsoft has come under fire from its many competitors due to the merger. Sony has publicly stated their belief that the deal will harm their ability to compete, reduce the choice of games and less choice for developers to publish games. Sony may also be concerned for the Activision published Call of Duty series being withheld from the PlayStation with this deal, considering it is not made available to other subscription services yet. Google has raised their own concerns, arguing that Microsoft has already intentionally degraded the quality of the Game Pass subscription when used with the Chrome operating system, and has further incentive to steer sales away from Google with the Activision merger.

Rift in the FTC paves way for the merger

Recently, the New York Post reported that the four-member FTC panel of commissioners are split over the decision to oppose the merger. Reports stated that at least one commissioner has taken a “sympathetic view” to Microsoft, and potentially open to a settlement. If the rift persists, there is a possibility that no lawsuit will be filed and the merger will go ahead.

Given Activision-Blizzard’s recent fall from grace with their fans, most gamers would certainly rejoice for the merger with Microsoft, at least from a gaming perspective. However, would this merger really change the landscape of gaming for the worse in the long term? That remains to be seen.

Sources: Politico, Kotaku, New York Post, True Achievements

Business, Lifestyle, News, Social Media

Elon Musk is Acquiring Twitter for US$ 44 Billion -What is Happening?

April 26, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Being rich has a lot of perks. One of them, as the richest man on earth, Elon Musk shows, is simply acquiring companies. His most prominent acquisition so far, that just went through anyway, is Twitter at US$ 44 Billion (MYR 191.333 billion*).

Of course, while this is our first report on Elon Musk’s bid to acquiring Twitter, it is not something that has gone quiet. Elon Musk bought over some Twitter shares a few weeks back and has been bidding to acquire the platform entirely ever since. Why? We do not know.

A few weeks back, with his acquisition of Twitter shares, he also promised that Twitter will soon have an ‘edit post’ button. The ‘edit’ button is something Twitter sorely lacks since its inception. While we would appreciate an ‘edit’ function, we have sort of lived with it. An ‘edit’ button will be nice though.

The acquisition that just went through not too long ago today has more questions surrounding it than answers too. One thing that has already been known with the acquisition is that the current CEO, Parag Agrawal will be leaving the company, though there are no mentions of when that will happen. We also know that Elon Musk is big on “free speech within the bounds of the law”, which is still rather vague but could mean less regulations from Twitter’s end. Elon also says that he wants to make Twitter better with new features and open sourcing the algorithms within Twitter.

What does this mean for Twitter?

Nobody knows, really. When the deal went through, there were plenty of speculations on organisational restructuring. Employees at Twitter are still nervous about their jobs or even compensations if they suddenly become unemployed. So far, there are no mentions on a major restructuring in Twitter yet.

In terms of the Twitter platform itself, you could be seeing the return of multiple names that was banned by Twitter for political correctness and other reasons. We said ‘could’, not ‘will’, so even we are taking that with a pinch of salt for now. Still, in favour of Elon Musk’s “free speech” commitment, we are expecting looser regulations from Twitter and less intervention from the platform in plenty of topics, “fake news” included.

Of course, such high-profile acquisition will attract the attention of Wall Street. That led to a 5% spike of Twitter’s share prices before Wall Street had to stop the trade of Twitter’s stocks. Elon Musk is known to turn many things into gold, and we believe that Twitter’s stocks will continue to increase in value at least for the time being.

The current CEO of Twitter says that there are no planned changes at this time, at least before he leaves. He added though that he is unsure about changers in the future ones the deal closes later this year. The deal is expected to take another six months before Elon fully takes control of Twitter. At least for the next six months, there should not be much in terms of change within and on Twitter as a platform.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.35 as of 26/04/2022 on xe.com

Business, Computers, Mobile, News

[UPDATED] NVIDIA + ARM Deal is Not Happening After All!

February 8, 2022 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

[UPDATE on 09/02/2022] NVIDIA and SoftBank has officially announced that the ARM acquisition bid from NVIDIA will not go through! Read SoftBank’s statement here.

NVIDIA, the world’s largest graphics chip maker, expressed their interest in acquiring ARM, the people behind some of the world’s most powerful mobile chips currently, back in 2020. It was not just an expressed interest though; they really started the whole process of acquiring the chip designers from 2020 onward. It became a whole thing too through 2021.

To be fair, the concerns that were raised by multiple parties regarding the acquisition efforts were not baseless. Companies like Qualcomm, Microsoft, even Samsung and Apple rely on ARM’s chip architecture and designs for their processing chips. It makes sense then that Qualcomm and even Microsoft would have objected the acquisition efforts. The purchase could have led to a massive imbalance in the chip business, since ARM is a key player in the chip making industry. If the purchase went through, it would have been the biggest ever in the chip business too with Softbank selling it at US$ 66 billion.

There were also a lot of regulatory issues that were raised prior to 2022 regarding the purchase. Investigations were also launched by United Kingdom, United States, and European Union as well regarding the acquisition. They raised concerns of anti-competition efforts and market monopoly despite NVIDIA promising that ARM’s deal with all its customers will still be honoured and it will be business as usual.

There are no official announcements just yet on the deal not going through. NVIDIA, ARM, and SoftBank have not commented on the reports that first broke on Financial Times. According to early reports too, SoftBank, ARM’s owners will be receiving US$ 1.25 billion from NVIDIA for failing the acquisition bid.

The falling through of the deal should be a relief to many in the tech industry. It means that Apple, Qualcomm, Intel, Samsung, and plenty of other key chip manufacturers can sleep soundly as their deal with ARM continue without NVIDIA’s intervention. Their relief is another person’s headache though, in this case probably two. SoftBank is still selling ARM, but given the significance of ARM in the industry, selling the chip designers will be a tall order. As for NVIDIA, their stock prices might tank once the fall through is official, but it is NVIDIA after all, they should bounce back quickly enough. If you want to know more about the acquisition bid, you can head over to NVIDIA’s blog.

Source: 9 to 5 Mac, ars Technica, The Verge

Business, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Facebook Might be Forced to Sell Giphy

August 13, 2021 Darwin Sucipto Leave a comment

Today is a funny world of memes and GIFs. Pronounce ‘GIF’ however you want, but you cannot deny its popularity and its significance in modern communication. It has become a tool to quickly express yourself in certain moments with your friends, and even with the world of social media. You can even create your own GIFs these days with your smartphone or even the web. One of the most popular platforms for virtually unlimited GIFs is Giphy.

If you are not aware, Facebook currently owns Giphy (what else do they not own?). They made a bid of US$ 400 million earlier in 2020 for Giphy and now owns at least a major part of Giphy. Facebook’s acquisition of the popular GIF platform should not come as a surprise though. After all, GIF is now a large part of social media and Facebook has been relentless in their quest to be a one-stop-shop of all things social media. The acquisition of Giphy also allows Facebook to directly access Giphy’s database and develop APIs that would seamlessly integrate Facebook’s platforms to Giphy, which is a big win for WhatsApp users at least.

It seems that not everyone agrees with Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy though. The Competition and Markers Authority (CMA), an anti-competition regulator in the United Kingdom (UK), launched an investigation following the acquisition of Giphy last year. Yes, last year, not this year. They finally came to a finding that was released yesterday though that might be alarming for Facebook.

Their statement (as per The Verge and quoted below) raises concerns over how Giphy is a platform of choice for many of the other social media platforms that are currently not owned by Facebook. CMA argues that Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy might affect that access from other social media platforms; in other words, CMA thinks that Facebook will cut off access to Giphy making it a Facebook exclusive instead of the open platform that it is currently known for. CMA also cited that Facebook could also acquire more user data that was previously not available to it from other social media platforms like Snapchat and Twitter via Giphy. They also argued that Giphy was on its way to building their own ads business model that could be a possible competition to Facebook, and those plans were derailed with Facebook’s acquisition. They will be producing a final report on the issue in October 2021.

“Millions of posts every day on social media sites now include a GIF. Any reduction in the choice or quality of these GIFs could significantly affect how people use these sites and whether or not they switch to a different platform, such as Facebook. As most major social media sites that compete with Facebook use Giphy GIFs, and there is only one other large provider of GIFs – Google’s Tenor – these platforms have very little choice.
The CMA provisionally found that Facebook’s ownership of Giphy could lead it to deny other platforms access to its GIFs. Alternatively, it could change the terms of this access – for example, Facebook could require Giphy customers, such as TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat, to provide more user data in order to access Giphy GIFs. Such actions could increase Facebook’s market power, which is already significant.”

Of course, Facebook did not sit still with the investigation that was launched last year. They have since made a few submissions to CMA claiming that Giphy had “no meaningful audience of its own”. They also claimed that Giphy relies on Facebook for most of its traffic anyway. To be fair too, Giphy has not been posting any profit numbers in its 8-year history, even with some US$ 150 million raised over their course of existence. Since the acquisition too, Giphy’s employees have not been integrated into Facebook and everything has been kept at status quo at the moment.

So far then, it is still business as usual on both ends. That also means that you still can enjoy Giphy on any platform of your choosing, for now. If the deal still goes through though, CMA’s fears could come true, and your source of never-ending GIFs will be exclusive to Facebook apps sooner than later. At the same time, Giphy needs money to keep operating, and in that case, who would keep Giphy funded if Facebook is not allowed to own Giphy?

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