Major Tech Business Moves: IBM, Sun, and AOL. Is This 1996? [Roundup]
Big business is in the tech news today.
IBM Not Buying Sun. A story that’s been flying slightly under most radars the last couple weeks has been the ongoing talks between IBM and Sun about the terms of Sun’s acquisition. It turns out these talks broke down today. While neither IBM or Sun consistently generate buzz, excitement and headlines on a regular basis, both seem to be solid companies. A merger would have created an even more solid entity, but neither appears to be too damaged by the failure to come to an agreement.
AOL Might be Spun Off from Time Warner. According to multiple sources, Time Warner appears to be making the changes necessary to lay the groundwork to spin off AOL from the media conglomerate.
What would a post Time Warner AOL look like? CNet describes it succinctly:
AOL has also been aligning itself into three quasi-standalone businesses: advertising (Platform-A, amassed out of a number of digital-ad acquisitions), social networking (the "People Networks" division anchored by AOL’s$850 million acquisition of Bebo), and content (the "MediaGlow" network of blogs and editorial sites).
Of all the parts to AOL, the one I like the most is the “MediaGlow” division. Built primarily on blogs, they’ve shown how wildly profitable it can be to run a New Media empire.
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