...Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. surged as much as 12.6 percent in German trading after reports said Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Oyj mulled a joint bid, while Amazon.com Inc. considered buying the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone. RIM “turned down takeover overtures” from Amazon because it wanted to fix its shortcomings independently, Reuters reported yesterday. That was followed by a Wall Street Journal article that said Microsoft and Nokia “flirted with the idea of making a joint bid” in recent months. Both cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. Microsoft looked at the option of making a joint bid with Nokia for RIM, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The proposal, which included Nokia taking on RIM's hardware business, was discussed in an informal manner and wasn't taken to the board level, the person said. Before the reports, RIM stock had tumbled to its lowest level in almost eight years. Last week, the company disclosed a delay in a new generation of BlackBerrys designed to fuel a rebound, adding to challenges that include lost market share and a tablet device that bombed with shoppers. The 78 percent plunge in RIM's shares this year before today leaves it vulnerable to an approach from suitors, said Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities Inc. Shares Surge “At this valuation, it is a strong acquisition target,” said Kanade, who is based in Toronto...
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...Record: 1 | BlackBerry blues. By: McMAHON, TAMSIN. Maclean's. 6/4/2012, Vol. 125 Issue 21, p32-34. 3p. Abstract: The article discusses the decline of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (RIM), the creator of the BlackBerry smartphone, as of June 2012. Topics include competition in the global smartphone market, RIM's corporate investments in research and development (R & D), and the failure of the telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nortel. (AN: 76358166) | | | Persistent link to this record (Permalink): | http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=76358166&site=ehost-live | | | Cut and Paste: | <a href="http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=76358166&site=ehost-live">BlackBerry blues.</a> | | | Database: | Business Source Complete | Section: Business TECHNOLOGY The once-mighty RIM is fighting for its life. What that means for a Canadian tech sector still suffering from the loss of Nortel To get a sense of how deeply intertwined the Canadian identity has become with the BlackBerry, this country's most famous modern-day invention, pick up a copy of the study guide issued by the federal government to help new immigrants prepare for their citizenship test. There, among the handful of inventors whose work is so critical to the country's history that their names...
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...BlackBerry is a line of mobile e-mail and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) since 1999. [2] BlackBerry functions as a personal digital assistant with address book, calendar, memopad and task list capabilities. It also functions as a portable media player with support for music and video playback and camera and video capabilities. BlackBerry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive (push) Internet e-mail wherever mobile network service coverage is present, or through Wi-Fi connectivity. BlackBerry is mainly a messaging phone with the largest array of messaging features in a smartphone today, including auto-text, auto-correct, text prediction, support for many languages, keyboard shortcuts, text emoticons, push email, push Facebook, Twitter and Myspace notifications, push Ebay notifications, push instant messaging with BlackBerry Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messanger and Yahoo Messenger; threaded text messaging and a customizable indicator light near the top right of all Blackberry devices. All notifications and conversations from applications are shown in a unified messaging application which third party applications can access also. Many of these applications would have to be running in the background of other phones to be used. BlackBerry's push gives BlackBerry devices their renowned battery life. All data on the phone is compressed through BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS)...
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...(September 23, 2013) its interest in acquiring Blackberry. The focus of this case is to understand the implications of this acquisition for both the parties. What strategic alternatives are considered by the Blackberry Management team, who knew the problems of the company? Why did they focus on a platform which was already a failure (like in case of Nokia), Why didn’t they consider Android in their phones which gave Samsung a chance to capture the market? Why did they give away BBM, their core competence to android and iOS? Or is it a BBM spinoff? Why did they miserable fail from 2010 till now in launching the devices which were only attractive to few consumers. Why did they not target mass market and instead engrossed to niche market. Why did they not publicize about the QNX 10 which is used in 60% of Automobile Technology now? Why does a company who operates in insurance and investment management want to acquire a communication technology company? What benefits does it seek? Is it simply patriotism or something else which the company is bothered? The case is a more or less compilation of the news articles and only few facts have been taken out of the company’s website and other sources. The events occurred during August and September of 2013 form a basis for this write up and any dates mentioned are relevant to that particular period. BLACKBERRY LIMITED: BLACK BURIED??? After months of conjecture the deal is done - BlackBerry is to be bought over by its highest bidder, a...
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...Analysis of Objectives 5 EXTERNAL ANALYSES 6 Environmental Scan 6 Political 7 Economic 7 Social 7 Technological 7 Environmental 8 Legal 8 Three Future Trends 9 Scenario 1: Shift from Hardware to Software Focus 9 Scenario 2: Cloud Computing 12 Scenario 3: Developing markets 14 INTERNAL ANALYSIS 15 Resource-Based View Analysis 15 Tangible Resources 15 Intangible resources 17 Value Chain Analysis 18 Primary 18 Secondary 20 Core Competencies Assessment 21 SWOT Analysis 23 GENERIC STRATEGIES 24 DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS 25 Where are they heading? 25 Where would they like to be? 25 How do they get there? 26 RECOMMENDATIONS 27 APPENDIX 28 REFERENCES 33 INTRODUCTION Company Background BlackBerry Limited, previously known as Research In Motion Limited is a wireless telecommunication equipment manufacturer, well known for its brand of smartphones and tablets of the same name. Originally founded in 1984 by Mike Lazardis, the company was managed with a dual CEO structure where Mr. Lazardis oversaw technical functions and partner Jim Balsillie oversaw sales/marketing. When stock prices began to falter, shareholder criticism of this leadership style caused both men stepped down for Thorsten Heins. He ran the company until November 2013, when he was replaced by John Chen, following the collapse of a deal with Fairfax to take the company private. Initially the company was a dominant and innovative force in the industry, leading the market...
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...(Difficulty: E = Easy, M = Medium, and T = Tough) True-False Easy: (1.2) Goal of firm Answer: b Diff: E [i]. The proper goal of the financial manager should be to maximize the firm's expected profit, since this will add the most wealth to each of the individual shareholders (owners) of the firm. a. True b. False (1.2) Goal of firm Answer: b Diff: E [ii]. If a firm has a single owner, we may say that the proper goal of a financial manager would be to maximize the firm's earnings per share. a. True b. False (1.2) Managerial incentives Answer: b Diff: E [iii]. Executive stock options are shares of stock awarded to managers on the basis of corporate performance. a. True b. False (1.2) Social welfare and finance Answer: b Diff: E [iv]. The goal of maximizing stock price is a detriment to society in that few of the actions that result in maximization of stock price also benefit society. a. True b. False (1.2) Social welfare and finance Answer: a Diff: E [v]. If a firm's managers want to maximize stock price it is in their best interests to operate efficient, low-cost plants, develop new and safe products that consumers want, and maintain good relationships with customers, suppliers, creditors, and the communities in which they operate. a. True b. False (1.3) Agency Answer: b Diff: E [vi]. An agency relationship exists when one or more persons hire another person...
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...NO. 6 • DEC. 2000 Hostility in Takeovers: In the Eyes of the Beholder? G. WILLIAM SCHWERT* ABSTRACT This paper examines whether hostile takeovers can be distinguished from friendly takeovers, empirically, based on accounting and stock performance data. Much has been made of this distinction in both the popular and the academic literature, where gains from hostile takeovers result from replacing incumbent managers and gains from friendly takeovers result from strategic synergies. Alternatively, hostility could ref lect strategic choices made by the bidder or the target. Empirical tests show that most deals described as hostile in the press are not distinguishable from friendly deals in economic terms, except that hostile transactions involve publicity as part of the bargaining process. THE PERCEPTION OF HOSTILITY in American takeovers has had important connotations in both the popular and the academic literature. Unwelcome bids are often perceived to threaten at least some of the stakeholders in target corporations, leading to extensive defensive reactions by the management of the target firm. In contrast, friendly takeovers are often seen to create synergies that make both the bidder and the target firm better off ~see, for example, Mørck, Shleifer, and Vishny ~1988, 1989!!. The distinction between hostile and friendly takeovers is also important if removing an inefficient target management team creates the gains from hostile takeovers. Manne ~1965! refers to this as part...
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...PeopleSoft v. Oracle: Hostilities Involved in a Takeover Precious Richey OMM 640 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility (MFF1226A) Instructor – Ken Edick Submitted: 7/23/2012 Abstract The hostile takeover of PeopleSoft by Oracle was the results of a lengthy court battle that raised many issues. One issue in particular concerned anti-trust laws and their application to technology companies. The Department of Justice, in an attempt to block the takeover, argued that a merger of this nature would lessen competition and ultimately limit customer choice. An appellant court judge ruled that this case did not meet the criterion of an anti-trust breach and ruled in favor of Oracle. Never the less, many other factors concerning the role of shareholders, the board of directors and chief officers gave rise to some grey areas. It has been speculated that the outcome of this case has paved the way for similar acquisitions in the technology arenas. The hostile take-over bid by Oracle to acquire the controlling shares of PeopleSoft was a long and drawn out acquisition. The process was marked with uncertainties, government intervention, and changed trends. Some analysis considered the move to be a merger while others considered it to be a consolidate that served as a prelude to the inevitable changes in the software market. In 2003 when Oracle’s CEO announced plans to wage an unsolicited takeover of PeopleSoft’s stock (Boatright, 2009), the decision was met with...
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...1. Why is Auhll (CEO of Circon) resisting to the takeover? How do incentives of Auhll conflict with those of other (minority) shareholders? Auhll liked challenges, he had an innovative mind and he liked to do something new and different every time. .Auhll seems to have a soft corner for lost causes, Circon was a lost cause which he had picked up to turn its performance completely. ACMI as well as Cabot fall into the same category as that of Circon Inc. Having seen success with Circon and ACMI, he had an undoubting confidence that he would turn around the performance of Cabot as he did with Circon and ACMI. His approach and belief, that he cannot be wrong had led him on a different path as that of the shareholders. The takeover bid was within the interest of the shareholders for them to enjoy heavy rewards for their holdings in the short term (the $18/share bid was at 83% premium) but Auhll strongly believed that he could obtain long term sustainable competitive advantage which will result in higher returns for shareholders in the long run. He was more concerned about the long term which would have benefited him (since he owned 11.5% share of Circon) and the insiders. Of course here he was in conflict with the minority shareholders as the minority shareholders wanted to reap short term benefits. Also, as stated in the case, he was used to being the CEO of Circon and had emotional ties with the company. He had made enough money and had a prestigious status (both financial and...
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...Investment Notes -T-Bills: Treasury bills (or T-bills) mature in one year or less. Like zero-coupon bonds, they do not pay interest prior to maturity; instead they are sold at a discount of the par value to create a positive yield to maturity. -Federal Funds: overnight borrowings between banks and other entities to maintain their bank reserves at the Federal Reserve. Banks keep reserves at Federal Reserve Banks to meet their reserve requirements and to clear financial transactions. -Eurodollars: are time deposits denominated in U.S. dollars at banks outside the U.S. and thus are not under the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve. -The term was originally coined for U.S. dollars in European banks. -There is no connection with the euro currency or Eurozone. -FRA: a forward rate agreement (FRA) is a forward contract, an over-the-counter contract between parties that determines the rate of interest, or the currency exchange rate, to be paid or received on an obligation beginning at a future start date. -Investing in International shares: -Carry trade: is a strategy in which an investor borrows money at a low interest rate in order to invest in an asset that is likely to provide a higher return. This strategy is very common in the foreign exchange market -Counter-trade: an umbrella term used to describe many different types of transactions, each “in which the seller provides a buyer with goods or services and promises in return to purchase goods or services from the buyer” ...
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...the following statements is CORRECT? | a. | Relaxant's shareholders (the ex-partners) will now be exposed to less liability. | | b. | The firm's investors will be exposed to less liability, but they will find it more difficult to transfer their ownership. | | c. | The firm will find it more difficult to raise additional capital to support its growth. | | d. | The company will probably be subject to fewer regulations and required disclosures. | | e. | Assuming the firm is profitable, none of its income will be subject to federal income taxes. | Question 3 Which of the following statements is CORRECT? | a. | Conflicts would not exist if the Security and Exchange Commission were abolished. | | b. | The threat of takeovers reduces conflict of interest problems, but only between bondholders and stockholders. | | c. | Compensating managers with stock options can do nothing to help eliminate potential conflicts between stockholders and managers. | | d. | Compensating managers with stock options can help reduce conflicts of interest between stockholders and managers, but if the options are...
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...sales are almost stagnant over the 3-year period, earnings per share have steadily declined during the same time period, and the market value of shareholder’s equity is at the moment lower than its actual book value. Furthermore, the net income is also down over this 3-year period, and this is where Pan-Europa needs to focus its efforts (capital projects should assist in this effort). Earnings per share, dividends, and shareholders’ equity all fuelled by increase in net income will become critically important to the company and its shareholders in this coming year. Increase in net income would in turn strengthen the shareholders’ equity, earnings per share and dividends, and this would discourage buying shares by those considering a hostile takeover. Trudi Lauf as a proponent of reducing leverage on the balance sheet and understanding the shareholders anxiety should lead the way of Pan-Europa. ___________________________________________________________________________ Question 2: There are three NPV – NPV at Corp WACC (10,5%), NPV at minimum ROR and equivalent annuity. Ranking all projects against each of this category provides slightly different results. However, I used NPV at Corp WACC (10,5%) as this includes the most recent estimated weighted-average cost of capital for Pan-Europa. The results are in the table below: Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Project Strategic acquisition Market expansion eastward Market expansion southward Development and rollout of snack foods Artificial sweetener...
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...behaviour of the management in the event of a acquisition2. Often times when an acquisition occurs, the management of the acquired firm will not stay with the new firm, meaning that their will not benefit from the acquisition, but would rather suffer if the acquisition occurs. As such they might be inclined to try to prevent the acquisition, and not act in the best interest of the shareholders3. The Golden Parachute serves to ensure that the management acts in the best interest of the shareholders by providing a mechanism to protect their own personal self interest. Another objective that is often talked about would be that of an anti-takeover mechanism4. The Golden Parachute serves as a antitakeover mechanism in a number of ways, but in summary it is assumed to increase the cost of acquisition making the company less attractive for takeover. Through the course of this paper, we hope to learn a number of things about the whole Golden Parachute situation. Firstly, focusing on it being a tool to control the behaviour of the 1 Richard A....
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...*Adapted from Colorado State University http://writing.colostate.edu Executive Summaries Executive Summaries are much like any other summary in that their main goal is to provide a condensed version of the content of a longer report. The executive summary is usually no longer than 10% of the original document. It can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the report's length. Executive summaries are written literally for an executive who most likely DOES NOT have the time to read the original. * Executive summaries make a recommendation * Accuracy is essential because decisions will be made based on your summary by people who have not read the original * Executive summaries frequently summarize more than one document Processes for Writing an Executive Summary Executive summaries are typically written for longer reports. They should not be written until after your report is finished. Before writing your summary, try: * Summarizing the major sections of your report. You might even copy text from your report into the summary and then edit it down. * Talking aloud or even tape recording yourself summarizing sections of your report. Questions to Ask Yourself as You Write * What is your report about? * Why is it important? * What is included in the report? * What is included in each section? * Executive Summaries * Concise Statement * As a cover sheet to your document, an executive summary need not go into ANY mention of...
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...on employees below senior executive management. Problem definition December 1993: Charlotte Beers assesses the progresses made by the company after she became CEO: she realizes that clients love the Brand Stewardship concept, but most employees, below executive levels, have not embraced the newly created Vison. The problem I will focus in this document is the following: the majority of employees did not embrace the new Vison. I will analyze why this is a key problem, why it is happening and I will propose steps to accomplish more acceptance. Analysis Brief Background Major events have shaped the history of the company in the recent years: first the hostile takeover, 1989, then the loss of key accounts and credibility in the business. Many key senior employees have left in the 2 years following the takeover. The company Vison has been: “just keep doing the same thing, just better”, but the world around has been changing. The marketing business has clearly become more global in nature, with "mergers to form mega-agencies and the concept of transporting brands around the world", and customers are demanding for “more service at lower costs”. Re-creation Technically the type of organizational change Beers has to face as new CEO of the company is called re-creation: it’s a change introduced in response to an immediate demand, in this case the loss of customers and image. The research indicates that fewer than one in ten re-creations succeed [Leadership for Organizational...
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