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Mergers and Acquistions News

Categories: IT Services & Consulting

February 5th 2009, 10:14AM

Consolidation could be the trend to watch for in 2009. At present, economic predictions can usually be divided into one of two categories - the pessimistic and the catastrophic. Bill Gates described the current climate as "truly unprecedented". Yet if anything, the downturn could provide a fillip to mergers and acquisitions (M and A), as cash-rich firms search for suitable targets. Speaking to Reuters at the Davos conference, an industry expert simply said: "We're going to see further waves of consolidation as weaker players are taken over by stronger players."

In the month's eye-catching deal across all sectors, Cambridge-based software firm Autonomy swooped for US rival Interwoven in an agreement worth $775 million (£570 million). The acquisition brings to Autonomy Interwoven's content management system and a combined customer base in excess of 20,000. Few other M and A deals in software could match the scale of the Autonomy acquisition, but nonetheless there is plenty to report.

Software and IT firms Tribridge and Navint Consulting merged, to form one privately-held company known as Tribridge. Barracuda Networks acquired data recovery experts Yosemite Technologies for an undisclosed fee. French gaming powerhouse Ubisoft snapped-up Southlogic Studios, Brazil's oldest independent software developer. Private equity firm Vector Capital agreed a $160 million (£112 million) deal for Israeli software encryption firm Aladdin Knowledge Systems. And Eidos, the UK-based games developer, confirmed it received a takeover approach. The move follows disappointing sales of its flagship Tomb Raider title.

Telecoms, and Vodafone kept busy by moving for location-based specialists Wayfinder, as well as announcing its first-ever link up in the United Arab Emirates, with the launch of a strategic alliance with du. Sybase acquired mobile payments firm Paybox. Motorola selected Starent Networks to provide multimedia core networking services. Cable and Wireless announced the launch of the Next Generation Network in India. Next month, shareholders at Centennial Communications will vote on a proposed $944 million (£633 million) takeover offer from AT and T.

Consolidation was a noticeable theme in the semiconductors sector. At the close of January, reports said Toshiba and NEC Corporation were in talks over merging semiconductor operations, with another firm - Fujitsu - a possible third partner in a merger. The move follows confirmation earlier in the month that Toshiba and Fujitsu were discussing the future of their hard disk businesses. Elsewhere in the semiconductor sector, NXP won a major contract to supply the German transport network ticketing system, Synochip Technologies won a licence with ARC International to build systems on chips and Tower Semiconductor received a cash injection from Israel Corporation.

In media, the headline grabber was the mooted merger between Channel 4 and Five. In other news, ITV acquired a 25 per cent stake in production company Carbon Media. Cologne-based M DuMont Schauberg completed a €152 million (£136 million) deal for media group Mecom, adding further German newspapers and websites to their portfolio. And investment vehicle West End Ventures completed the takeover of digital media firm dotMailer.

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