Verizon to Acquire Fleetmatics for $2.4 Billion

Verizon Communications agreed to acquire Fleetmatics Group PLC (NYSE: FLTX)for $60.00 per share in cash – representing a value of approximately $2.4 billion.

Fleetmatics offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) fleet management solution that provides operators with visibility into vehicle location, fuel usage, speed and mileage, and other insights into their mobile workforce.

As of March 31, 2016, Fleetmatics served approximately 37,000 customers and approximately 737,000 subscribed vehicles throughout Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy. The company has approximately 1,200 employees and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with North American headquarters in Waltham, Mass.

"Fleetmatics is a market leader in North America -- and increasingly internationally -- and they've developed a wide-range of compelling SaaS-based products and solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses," said Andrés Irlando, CEO of Verizon Telematics. "The powerful combination of products and services, software platforms, robust customer bases, domain expertise and experience, and talented and passionate teams among Fleetmatics, the recently-acquired Telogis, and Verizon Telematics will position the combined companies to become a leading provider of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions globally," Irlando added.

In June, Verizon Telematics also announced the acquisition of Telogis, Inc., a global, cloud-based mobile enterprise management software company based in Aliso Viejo, Calif. That transaction closed on July 29.

Verizon Telematics, a subsidiary of Verizon Communications, operates in more than 40 markets worldwide and offers comprehensive wireless, software and hardware solutions to consumers, enterprises, automakers and dealers to power connected-vehicle products around the world.

http://www.verizon.com
https://www.fleetmatics.com/

Verizon Confirms $4.8 Billion Acquisition of Yahoo

Monday, July 25, 2016  Mergers And Acquisitions, Verizon, Yahoo  2 Comments

Verizon confirmed a deal to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion in cash. The deal does not include Yahoo’s cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holdings, its shares in Yahoo Japan, Yahoo’s convertible notes, certain minority investments, and Yahoo’s non-core patents (called the Excalibur portfolio). Yahoo will remain a registered, publicly traded investment company holding these assets, and will change its name once the deal closes. Yahoo, which was founded...

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Verizon to Acquire XO's Fiber Business for $1.8 Billion

Monday, February 22, 2016  Mergers And Acquisitions, Verizon, XO  1 Comment

Verizon Communications has agreed to acquire XO Communications’ fiber-optic network business for approximately $1.8 billion. Verizon cited several financial benefits from the transaction, including a step-up in the basis of the assets as well as operating and capital expense savings. The net present value of the operational synergies is expected to be in excess of $1.5 billion. Separately, Verizon will simultaneously lease available XO wireless

Verizon Cites Mobile Content Strategy for AOL Acquisition

Tuesday, May 12, 2015  AOL, Mergers And Acquisitions, Verizon  3 Comments

Verizon announced plans to acquire AOL for $50 per share -- an estimated total value of approximately $4.4 billion -- for its digital content and advertising platforms. Verizon said the deal further drives its LTE wireless video and OTT (over-the-top video) strategy. The agreement will also support and connect to Verizon’s IoT (Internet of Things) platforms, creating a growth platform from wireles

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NBC Olympics selects Microsoft Azure for Cloud Encoding/Hosting

NBC Olympics will be using Microsoft Azure to provide cloud encoding and hosting with video workflows of the upcoming Olympic games in Rio.

NBCOlympics.com plans to post a record 4,500 hours of online conten from the Olympics.

This is the second Games for which NBC Olympics has chosen Microsoft Azure to assist with live and on-demand multiplatform streaming coverage. With the proliferation of connected devices, viewers this year will tune into NBC Olympics’ programming from connected TVs, tablets, smartphones, PCs and more. NBC Olympics is making it easy for viewers to access news, highlights and programming wherever they are via the NBC Sports app available free on Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon, Windows 10 tablets, Xbox, Windows Phone, PC and Mac.

“We always strive to deliver more content in real time to more channels and devices around the world,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise Group at Microsoft. “During the Sochi Olympic Games, NBC Olympics had more than 1 million concurrent live viewers watching a collective average of 600,000 hours of coverage per day. We are planning for even greater viewing numbers for Rio, and are excited to power the experience again using Microsoft Azure.”

“The Rio Olympics have nearly three times as many events per day as the Sochi Games,” said Rick Cordella, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “With the Azure cloud platform, Microsoft is partnering with us to deliver the secure, scalable cloud we depend on to bring the Games to millions of viewers on whichever device they prefer, via end-to-end live streaming entirely in the cloud.”

http://news.microsoft.com/

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IBM Develops Bio Lab-on-Chip Technology

IBM is developing a new lab-on-a-chip technology that separates biological particles down to 20 nanometers (nm) in diameter, a scale that gives access to important particles such as DNA, viruses and exosomes. IBM said the technology offer potential to diagnose diseases before patients experience any physical symptoms and when the outcome from treatment is most positive. Until now, the smallest bioparticle that could be separated by size with on-chip technologies was about 50 times or larger.

“The ability to sort and enrich biomarkers at the nanoscale in chip-based technologies opens the door to understanding diseases such as cancer as well as viruses like the flu or Zika,” said Gustavo Stolovitzky, Program Director of Translational Systems Biology and Nanobiotechnology at IBM Research. “This extra amount of time could allow physicians to make more informed decisions and when the prognosis for treatment options is most positive.”

https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/50275.wss

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Equinix Buys Paris Data Center from Digital Realty

Equinix completed its acquisition of Digital Realty's operating business in St. Denis, Paris, including its real estate and data center facility, for EUR €189,750,000 (approximately USD $211 million).

The site currently houses Equinix's PA2 and PA3 International Business Exchange (IBX®) data centers.

Equinix said purchasing the St. Denis facility adds approximately 1,000 cabinets of sold capacity to the 5,000 cabinets Equinix has already sold in PA2 and PA3, plus expansion space for a further 1,000 cabinets in the existing buildings to support customer growth. The acquired facility is a dense interconnection site housing a core node of the Equinix Internet Exchange, one of the leading traffic exchanges in France.

Equinix's seven Paris data centers currently serve more than 575 companies.

http://www.equinix.com

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Frontier Posts Q2 Revenue of $2.68 Billion

Frontier Communications reported Q2 revenue of $2,608 million, including contributions from the fully integrated assets Frontier acquired from Verizon in California, Texas, and Florida (CTF).

“We are very pleased with the performance of our newly acquired assets and our achievement of annualized cost synergies of $1 billion in the second quarter. We now expect annual cost synergies related to the acquisition of $1.25 billion, up from our original estimate of $700 million,” said Dan McCarthy, Frontier President and Chief Executive Officer.

“As we move forward, we are continuing to focus on executing our strategy for growth, including upgrading our broadband speed capabilities, expanding our new Vantage video service to an increasing portion of our footprint, and implementing our successful commercial distribution capabilities in Frontier’s new markets. We will remain focused on increasing our broadband and video penetration, and improving our efficiency. Our priorities continue to be driving strong free cash flow and continuing our disciplined capital allocation policy, which together underpin our very attractive, sustainable dividend, and industry-leading dividend payout ratio. We also are very well-positioned to achieve our plan to reduce leverage over time,” McCarthy said.

Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter 2016:

• Revenue of $2,608 million
• Operating income of $311 million, operating income margin of 11.9%
• Net loss of $80 million, or ($0.07) per share
• Adjusted EBITDA(2) of $1,032 million, adjusted EBITDA margin of 39.6%
• Net cash provided from operating activities of $693 million
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow(3) of $250 million

https://frontier.com/

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KYOCERA to Acquire Melles Griot KK for Optical Components

Kyocera agreed to acquire all shares in Melles Griot KK — a Japan-based manufacturer specializing in optical components which is currently a subsidiary of U.S.-based IDEX Corporation.

Kyocera Optec Co. specializes in optical components for the automotive market as well as for the factory automation (FA) and medical markets.

Melles Griot KK possesses development and manufacturing technology for large caliber lenses and high precision lenses used in FA devices. The Kyocera Group aims to strengthen its product lineup and expand its optical component business by maximizing synergies between the companies.

http://global.kyocera.com/

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