News Corporation, Providence Equity Partners, The Walt Disney Company and the Hulu senior management team issued the following statement:
"Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success. Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu.” http://www.hulu.com 13-Oct-11
Microsoft completed its previously announced acquisition of Skype -- a deal valued at $8.5 billion.
Microsoft states that its mission with the Skype business is "connecting all people across all devices." The current, free Skype service continues as before. Long term, Microsoft envisions tighter integration with its other platforms.
"Skype is a phenomenal product and brand that is loved by hundreds of millions of people around the world," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "We look forward to working with the Skype team to create new ways for people to stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues — anytime, anywhere." Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Skype Division of Microsoft immediately, reporting directly to Ballmer.
Skype also noted that on some days it carries 300,000,000 minutes of video calling traffic. http://www.microsoft.com
http://www.skype.com 14-Oct-11
- Skype was founded in 2002 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis and its initial release was in August of that same year. Skype was acquired by eBay in September 2005, and then acquired by an investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009 for $2.75 billion.
BUYIN, the procurement joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom-Orange, has officially commenced operations. The parent companies have pooled their procurement activities in the areas of terminal devices, mobile communications networks, and in significant portions of their fixed-network equipment and service platforms in a 50:50 joint venture. In addition, the two companies intend to launch pilot projects to explore other areas for inclusion in the joint venture at a later stage, including IT infrastructure and further IT areas.
By pooling their buying power, Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom-Orange are targeting savings of EUR 400 million per year and below EUR 900 million per year respectively within three years of launching the joint venture.
BUYIN is based in Brussels and has operational units in in France and Germany. The company is headed by Volker Pyrtek (52), previously Chief Procurement Officer at Deutsche Telekom.
"We are very pleased to have received approval from appropriate anti-trust authorities for our procurement cooperation with France Télécom-Orange. Now we can start working together to tap into the large and growing potential savings from joint procurement,” said Edward R. Kozel, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom. http://www.francetelecom.com
http://www.telekom.com 14-Oct-11
- Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom-Orange first announced their procurement joint venture on 18-April-2011.
