2014 has marked one of the most active years in tech M&A history, largely caused by the strong public markets and cash-rich tech majors. The only more active year was during the tech boom of 2000.
The development, installation, and implementation of computer systems and applications. n 1. (Communications & Information) the technology of the production, storage, and communication of information using computers and microelectronics. Abbreviation: IT n. the development, implementation, and maintenance of computer hardware and software systems to organize and communicate information electronically.
With Hewlett-Packard ( ) recently announcing the writedown of its Autonomy acquisition just over a year after that deal closed (and after a separate impairment last quarter), it would seem that a recounting of some of the worst tech acquisitions in recent memory is in order.
Private equity firm Blackstone (BX) is set to launch a $4.2 billion financing to back its $5.4 billion acquisition of auto parts maker Gates Global. The deal is the second-largest U.S. leveraged buyout financing of the year, according to Thomson Reuters data, and is also the largest private equity buyout of an industrial company in more than four years.
Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization. Others, called computer user support specialists, assist non-IT users who are having computer problems.
Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise.
The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, engineering, healthcare, e-commerce and computer services.
Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but the term information technology in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the Harvard Business Review; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)." Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the application of statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making, and the simulation of higher-order thinking through computer programs.
Based on the storage and processing technologies employed, it is possible to distinguish four distinct phases of IT development: pre-mechanical (3000 BC – 1450 AD), mechanical (1450–1840), electromechanical (1840–1940) and electronic (1940–present).
Every startup team dreams of their company being acquired for billions of dollars. That desire is further fueled by the recent incredible rate of disruptive tech startups acquisitions. Related: 7 Steps to Prepare Your Company for an Acquisition A lot of money is being thrown around hoping to land the newest hot technology.
Snapchat, the fast-growing messaging system, has reportedly rejected a $3bn buyout offer from Facebook. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the negotiations, said the all-cash offer came as other investors were valuing the loss making two-year-old company at over $4bn. At $3bn Snapchat would be the most expensive acquisition Facebook has ever made.
Pipeline company retains Barclays and Lazard to pursue alternatives Natural-gas pipeline giant Williams Cos. has rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from Energy Transfer Equity L.P. worth $48 billion but is open to other offers, the companies said Sunday. Williams didn't identify who made the bid.
Wall Street dealmakers are off to a busy start to 2013, as some of corporate America's most recognizable names have become involved in multi-billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions. Just yesterday, American Airlines and US Airways announced they would be merging in an $11 billion deal, while private equity firm 3G and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced a $28 billion joint acquisition of food conglomerate H.G.