Quick Headlines: M&A, Possible IPO and Venture Capital
A few quick headlines on a Thursday afternoon:
- Just a few days after VMWare completed its acquisition of Zimbra, the Silicon Valley technology darling announced its intention to acquire certain assets from EMC. The deal focuses on software products and expertise from EMC's Ionix IT management business in an all-cash transaction valued at up to $200 million. Ben Verghese, Chief Management Architect, Virtualization and Cloud Platforms Business Unit, gave a bit of insight into the transaction on his executive blog. VMWare is certainly keeping my former colleague and current Sr. VP and General Counsel Dawn Smith busy these days.
- Deutsche Telekom didn't rule out spinning out T-Mobile USA and taking it public later this year, though the global telecom giant did rule out trying to gain market share buy acquiring one of its competitors in a "multi-billion-euro" deal anytime in the next two years, according to a BusinessWeek article today. An IPO of that magnitude could certainly serve as a nice shot of adrenaline for the still-stalled US IPO market.
- SecondMarket closed another round of funding. Li Ka Shing Foundation and Hutchison Wampoa Ltd. each invested $7.5 million, joining an investor base that includes FirstMark Capital, New Enterprise Associates and Silicon Valley Bank. The raise was for expansion into the Asian markets. SecondMarket certainly seems focused on scaling its operations and really making the secondary trading market for traditionally illiquid securities part of everyday life in Silicon Valley and beyond.
