Deals

Cisco Systems has revealed plans to acquire NDS Group, paying $5 billion for the video software company as part of an effort to increase investment in its software and video services. NDS software ensures that paid digital content gets to appropriate set-top boxes, smart TVs and consumer gadgets, an...

Dell is acquiring network-security and data-protection tool provider SonicWall for an estimated $1 billion to $1.5 billion. This is the latest in a series of acquisitions Dell has made in recent months. It has acquired Force 10, Perot Systems and SecureWorks. All of these companies focus on differen...

Reports are circulating that CNN is finalizing a $200 million deal to acquire the social news and technology website Mashable. CNN has been looking to match CBS' acquisition of Cnet for at least three years, said Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group, but network officials were unable to reach an agreeme...

Netflix is reportedly in talks with cable TV providers to bundle its services with cable packages. Although the streaming online media provider wouldn't confirm a Tuesday report quoting insiders, a Netflix spokesperson did not deny talks are ongoing with cable operators. "What's revolutionary is evo...

A deal worth billions to Yahoo has reportedly hit a snag. The deal between Yahoo and two of its Asian partners, China's Alibaba Group and Japan's SoftBank, has reached an impasse, according to a recent report. The accord would, among other things, save Yahoo $4 billion in U.S. taxes. Yahoo's investm...

Google has cleared a significant hurdle in what will perhaps be its greatest prize yet: its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The deal has gotten the green light from both U.S. and European regulators. Their approval did not come without some words of caution about making sure that cri...

Oracle has announced it is acquiring the cloud-based talent management provider Taleo. It is paying $46 per share, or approximately $1.9 billion, net of Taleo's cash and debt. Taleo's board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close mid-year 2012, subject to ...

Amazon and Viacom have inked a licensing agreement that will bring the number of instant videos available to Amazon Prime customers to more than 15,000. The deal will add episodes from Viacom's Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and BET outlets. Titles will include "The Hills," "Jersey Shore," "The Ha...

Andreessen Horowitz announced that it has raised US$1.5 billion for a fund aimed at investing in technology startups. The new fund is launching just as one of the firm's well-known bets, Facebook, prepares to go public. Andreessen Horowitz has an unspecified stake in the social network. Indeed, amon...

Intel is buying about 190 patents, 170 patent applications, and next-generation video codec software from RealNetworks. The terms of the sale will allow RealNetworks to retain certain rights to continue using the patents in current and future products. In addition to the sale, RealNetworks and Intel...

Brand graph company 33Across has acquired Tynt, a company that tracks user behavior for publishers. Both companies were mum about the amount of the all-stock deal. Tynt will take 33Across into a new market; the combined companies will reach 1.25 billion users globally, according to 33Across. 33Acros...

With little public fanfare, SAP and Google announced a strategic alliance to integrate SAP's BusinessByDesign and Google Apps during an "influencer" forum last month. Although senior executives from both companies boasted about the significance of this joint initiative, neither issued a public anno...

It has been a rocky week for the medical news website WebMD, and it appears that the remainder of 2012 may be equally tumultuous. On Tuesday, WebMD CEO Wayne T. Gattinella resigned, and the company announced it was not looking for a buyer after all. It informed shareholders that 2012 revenue could c...

Intel has finally leaped into the mobile sector. CEO Paul Otellini announced the company's entry during a keynote address at CES. Otellini revealed major agreements with both Motorola and Lenovo to put Intel inside smartphones. Intel will show up in Lenovo phones in China during the first half of 20...

Oracle has released its Big Data Appliance, which it announced last year at Oracle OpenWorld. With no release date promised, the industry was surprised by its relative speed to market. Less surprising was Oracle's enlistment of Cloudera -- the leading provider of Hadoop system management tools -- to...