Google made another play for the social networking space Friday with its acquisition of Slide, which makes games, applications and widgets for websites such as Facebook and MySpace.The San Francisco developer provides free apps that Facebook users can install on their profiles in order to play simple games with friends or to arrange photo slide shows.Slide’s SuperPoke application and its animal-centric variations, for example, are a family of well loved social games with which players can virtually hug friends or raise a pet pig. A feature similar to Slide’s Top Friends was eventually implemented by Facebook into every profile, allowing users to rank online buddies.
Posts Tagged ‘Acquisition’
Google acquires social games and apps maker Slide
August 6th, 2010 
Before You Invest 
Posted in Finance Fraud 
Tags: Acquisition, Buddies, Facebook, Family Games, Free Apps, Games Websites, Google, Google Games, Networking Space, Pet Pig, Photo Slide, Play Games, Profiles, San Francisco, Simple Games, Social Games, Social Networking, Superpoke, Variations, Widgets 
Comments OffKraft scraps ‘almost 75% of Cadbury jobs’
July 6th, 2010 Before You Invest Food manufacturer Kraft Foods has scrapped nearly three-quarters of the staff at British confectionery giant Cadbury’s headquarters, it has been reported.The Independent has learned only 45 of the 165 senior managers at the Cadbury headquarters have been given new roles in Kraft’s expanded business.Kraft, whose global headquarters is based in Chicago, US, has made the remaining 120 managers redundant.”We always were clear that the global head office would be in Chicago and therefore that the UK-based head office employees would go into a consultation about redundancy,” the news provider reported a Kraft spokesperson as saying.Kraft has received significant criticism from various UK organisations this year following its £11.9 billion takeover of Cadbury.During the acquisition bid, Kraft said it would keep Cadbury’s Somerdale Curly Wurly factory, near Bristol, open.But, after a deal was reached between itself and the British confectioner, it reneged on its pledge.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Bid, Bristol, Cadbury, Confectioner, Consultation, Food Manufacturer, Giant, Global Head, Global Headquarters, Jobs, Kraft Foods, Pledge, Redundancy, Senior Managers, Somerdale, Spokesperson, Takeover, Three Quarters, Uk Organisations Comments OffMorningstar buys out Danish unit for $15.2M
June 17th, 2010 Before You Invest (AP) — Investment research firm Morningstar Inc. said Thursday its European subsidiary will buy the rest of its Danish unit from Phosphorus A/S.Morningstar Europe B/V will pay $15.2 million, plus a share of its first-half 2010 profit, for the 75 percent stake held by Phosphorus, a Danish company.Morningstar Danmark, based in Copenhagen, was established in 2001.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: 2m, Acquisition, Bruun, Ceo, Chief Operating Officer, Copenhagen, Counseling Service, Danish Company, Dk, European Subsidiary, Exchange Traded Funds, Individual Investors, Investment Research, Morningstar, Mutual Funds, Percent Stake, Peter Meyer, Phosphorus, Seeds, Torben Comments OffBank of America sued by Dutch pension fund
March 22nd, 2010 Before You Invest ABN has launched a law suit against Bank of America (BoFA) claiming that the institution withheld information during its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.The Dutch pension fund stated that BoFA hid the full extent of Merrill Lynch’s losses – data which it claimed could have led to shareholders such as ABN rejecting the deal.Details of BoFA’s choice to pay Merrill Lynch staff $5.8 billion in bonuses were also hidden, ABN claimed.BoFA is being sued for over $90 million, the filing in New York revealed.In a statement, APG was quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “There is no doubt that shareholders would have found the information withheld vital to an informed vote and rejected the merger if they would have had knowledge of the concealed facts.”BoFA recently reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to pay $150 million in compensation after being sued by the regulator for deliberately misleading shareholders over the Merrill Lynch acquisition.The law suit was filed by the SEC over BoFA’s failure to reveal employee bonuses and financial losses at the company.BoFA was initially fined $33 million in August 2009 before the second set of legal proceedings was initiated earlier this year.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Abn, Acquisition, Apg, Bank Of America, Bloomberg, Bofa, Employee Bonuses, Failure, Financial Losses, Full Extent, Law Suit, Legal Proceedings, Merger, Merrill Lynch, No Doubt, Pension Fund, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Shareholders, Vote Comments OffJPMorgan Chase CEO – Economy could still “double dip”
March 2nd, 2010 Before You Invest JPMorgan Chase will not raise its dividend until the threat of a “double dip” in the economy has subsided, the company’s chief executive officer has said.Jamie Dimon made the comments at the financial institution’s annual investor meeting, Reuters reported.Representatives from the bank stated that ideally the dividend would be increased from 75 cents to $1.But, further confirmation that the financial crisis had finished, such as rising employment figures, would be needed before the bank would increase the figure.Mr Dimon said: “We don’t mind holding extra capital right now because we don’t know what’s going to happen. There are hugepotential negatives out there.”He added that the company is “cautious” due to uncertainty over the amounts of money needed to be maintained in reserve for future potential credit losses.Although the economic turmoil in Greece was not an issue for the bank, the CEO did express concern over the ability of states such as California to manage debt.Earlier in the month, JPMorgan announced the acquisition of the commodities arm of RBS Sempra for $1.7 billion.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Ceo Express, Chief Executive Officer, Commodities, Confirmation, Credit Losses, Dividend, Economic Turmoil, Economy, Employment Figures, Financial Crisis, Financial Institution, Greece, Investor, Jamie Dimon, Jpmorgan Chase, Money, Rbs Sempra, Reuters, Uncertainty Comments OffAIG will sell Asian life insurer to Prudential for $35.5 billion
March 1st, 2010 Before You Invest The board of American International Group approved the sale of the company’s crown jewel, American International Assurance, to Prudential of the U.K. for about $35.5 billion. The sale, along with a separate deal, could generate about $50 billion, half of which will go to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Aia, Aig, American International Assurance, American International Group, Asian Life, Bank Of New York, Crown Jewel, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Bank Of New York, Government Officials, Life Insurer, Prudential, Taxpayers, Wsj Comments OffWarren Buffett’s Letter to Shareholders
March 1st, 2010 Before You Invest An excerpt:Our gain in net worth during 2009 was $21.8 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 19.8%. Over the last 45 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $84,487, a rate of 20.3% compounded annually.*Berkshire’s recent acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe has added at least 65,000 shareholders to the 500,000 or so already on our books.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: 45 Years, Acquisition, Annual Report, Berkshire, Bnsf, Burlington Northern Santa, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Charlie Munger, Decades, Economic Principles, Excerpt, Freshman Orientation, Letter To Shareholders, Net Worth, Newcomers, Northern Santa Fe, Orientation Session, Refresher Course, Time Partner, Warren Buffett Comments OffMotorola set-top box exec leaving to head electronics firm Technitrol
February 22nd, 2010 Before You Invest (Reuters) — Motorola Inc. said Monday that Dan Moloney, the head of its television set-top box business, has chose to leave the company to become chief executive officer of electronics components maker Technitrol Inc.The announcement comes after Motorola revealed a plot to separate the company into two parts, one of which will combine the set-top box business and the mobile devices unit.After the split-off, scheduled for the first quarter of next year, Motorola’s Co-CEO Sanjay Jha will head the mobile devices and home unit.Motorola said Moloney, who joined the company after its acquisition of General Instrument in 2000, played a role in the choice to combine the cellphone and set-top box business.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Cellphone, Ceo, Chief Executive Officer, Communications Equipment, Electronics Components, Electronics Firm, Exec, First Quarter, General Instrument, Mobile Devices, Motorola, Motorola Inc, Motorola Set Top Box, Papada, Philadelphia, Reuters, Sanjay Jha, Technitrol Inc, Television Set Comments OffGeorge Washington Bank fails; Ohio’s FirstMerit takes over
February 20th, 2010 Before You Invest George Washington Savings Bank in Orland Park, Illinois was closed by state banking regulators, with Akron, Ohio-based FirstMerit Bank acquiring all the deposits and virtually all of the assets of the 120-year-ancient bank.George Washington is the second Chicago-area bank to fail so far this year.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Akron Ohio, Assets, Bank Failures, Banking Operations, Banks, Ceo, Chicago Area, Collapse, Fdic, Federal Deposit Insurance, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Firstmerit Bank, George Washington, Losses, Oak Lawn, Orland Park Illinois, Paul Greig, Regulators, South Suburban Comments OffSEC Eyes 9 Deals In Insider Trading Probe
December 11th, 2009 Before You Invest Reuters- U.S. securities regulators are investigating at least nine mergers, including Pfizer Inc’s takeover of Wyeth and Merck & Co Inc’s acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp, for possible insider-trading violations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing whether deal advisers and traders illegally shared confidential information, the paper said, noting that the agency had sent out about three dozen subpoenas to hedge funds and brokerages.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Acquisition, Amp, Brokerages, Confidential Information, Insider Trading, Merck, Mergers, Pfizer, Pfizer Inc, Regulators, Reuters, Schering Plough, Schering Plough Corp, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Subpoenas, Takeover, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal, Wyeth No Comments »
