Report: RadioShack Considering Sale, Other Strategic Options
New York
– Electronics retail store chain RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) is exploring strategic
alternatives, including a possible sale of the company that could bring over $3
billion, or a merger with Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), The New York Post reported, citing sources.
"Investment bankers have already begun pitching their private-equity
clients about a leveraged buyout of RadioShack, notifying them of the
retailer’s willingness to sell," sources told The Post.
Another option
reportedly being considered is a merger with fellow consumer electronics
retailer Best Buy.
Still another option would see RadioShack put its $900
million cash on hand to repurchase its own shares, or make a strategic
acquisition.
Related Links:
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(N.Y. Post)
Twitter Music Service Song.ly Seeks Buyer; Asking $50,000
Palo Alto,
Calif. – Song.ly, a service that
lets users share music links on Twitter, has put itself up for sale on auction
site Flippa with a "buy it now" price of $50,000, TechCrunch
reported.
Launched in January 2009, Song.ly counts over 175,000 monthly pageviews.
The company added that it has "never performed any serious attempts to
monetize" the service, and noted that "all of the traffic to Song.ly
is organic."
It also said that the site "requires around one hour and
$80 per month to maintain."
Related Links:
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(TechCrunch)
http://flippa.com/auctions/88636/Song-ly–PR5–175000-Page-Views
Chinese Online Games Firm Perfect World Buys C&C Media
Beijing
– Perfect World (NASD: PWRD), a Chinese developer and operator of online games, announced on
Friday that it will acquire Japanese online game operator C&C Media from
Atlus Co. for about $21 million.
Founded in 2001, C&C Media operates the
MK-STYLE online games site.
Beijing-based Perfect World, whose titles include
"Perfect World," "Legend of Martial Arts" and "Battle
of the Immortals," said the deal will help it expand into the Japanese
market.
"This strategic acquisition will help us further penetrate into
the Japanese online game market to capture the growth opportunities there and
allow us to effectively expand our overseas operating capabilities," said
Perfect World chairman and CEO Michael Chi.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v3445
Nokia Acquires Mobile Browser Developer Novarra
Espoo, Finland – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) announced on Friday
that it will acquire Novarra, the developer of a mobile Web browser and service
platform.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in
1999, Chicago-based Novarra has raised more than $50 million in funding to date.
Nokia said that Novarra’s mobile browser and services platform will be used to
deliver enhanced Internet experiences on Nokia mobile devices.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v33x4
PagesJaunes Groupe Acquires Search Engine 123people
Vienna, Austria – PagesJaunes Groupe has
acquired 123people, a search engine that aggregates publicly available
information on people into online profiles, from Austrian venture capital firm
Gamma Capital Partners, PaidContent reported, citing the Austrian Independent.
The purchase price was a reported $13 million to $20 million.
Founded in 2008,
123people claims 40 million unique monthly visitors.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v33t2
(PaidContent)
Secret Builders Gets $2.3 Million for Educational Virtual World
San Mateo,
Calif. – Secret Builders, the
developer of an online virtual world with educational games, has raised $2.3
million in new funding, VentureBeat reported.
Backers include The Entrepreneurs
Fund and individual investors.
Founded in 2007, San Mateo,
Calif.-based Secret Builders counts 1 million registered users and nearly
400,000 unique monthly visitors to its online virtual world.
Over 800 schools
are partnered with the company and direct students to the site, which features
free-to-play games complemented by virtual item buy-ins
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v33la
(VentureBeat)
Blockbuster Debuts Mobile Streaming to T-Mobile HTC HD2
Los Angeles
– Video rental chain Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) has released an application that lets rent or
purchase some 10,000 film titles and watch them on mobile phones. At launch,
the application is only available for T-Mobile’s (NYSE: DT) HTC HD2, which runs Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) Windows
Mobile; the company told The New York Times it will expand to Google (NASD: GOOG) Android-powered handsets as well.
The service will stream rental titles over T-Mobile’s 3G network, while those
purchasing downloads will need a Wi-Fi connection. Rental prices for a 24-hour
period will range from $1.99 to $3.99 for newer releases.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v24rb
(N.Y. Times)
Microsoft to Add Foursquare 'Tips' to Bing Maps
Redmond,
Wash. – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) plans to add
content from location-based social network Foursquare to its Bing Maps service,
the company said in a blog post. Content will include the "tips" and
comments that Foursquare users type about a restaurant or other location when
they "check in" on Foursquare. The feature is expected to launch
later in the spring.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v25k5
(Bing blog)
Wall Street Journal iPad Edition to Cost $17.99 per Month
New York
– News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) will charge $17.99 per month for the iPad version of The Wall
Street Journal, which equates to a $10 discount from the print edition’s price,
The Journal reported. Time magazine has reportedly lined up a number of
advertisers to pay $200,000 each for an ad in each of the first eight iPad
editions of the magazine. Hearst’s Esquire magazine will charge $2.99 for its
iPad edition, or $2 less than the print version.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/v25nu
(WSJ)
