Eideard

Hewlett-Packard landed Palm by raising its bid following interest from other suitors after intellectual property and a potential licensing arrangement for the WebOS…Simply put, HP almost fell short of acquiring Palm. Palm’s outlines the process to sell itself and the role of “Company C,” an unnamed outfit that was in the running until the HP deal was actually announced…

Palm said it received interest from 16 companies including HP. Six including HP entered nondisclosure agreements:

The two companies in addition to HP that presented acquisition proposals are referred to as Company A and Company B. A fourth company, referred to as Company C, had initially been in discussions with Palm regarding an intellectual property transaction and later made a proposal to acquire Palm.

A fifth company, referred to as Company D, contacted Palm on March 18 to discuss an intellectual property transaction but did not make a proposal to acquire Palm. Company D did not enter into a nondisclosure agreement and did not review non-public information about Palm. Discussions with Company D continued intermittently until April 15.

The one common thread with all of these suitors? They wanted intellectual property transactions and many of the potential buyers were as interested in a licensing arrangement for things like the WebOS. However, an IP deal wouldn’t help Palm all that much…

On April 24 Palm’s CEO and advisors communicated to HP and its advisors that, to remain in the process, HP must improve its offer significantly and immediately. Later that day, HP’s financial advisors verbally delivered a proposal to acquire Palm for $5.70 per common share in cash. HP’s financial advisors also requested a five-day exclusivity period. On April 25 HP delivered a letter confirming this proposal with a target announcement date of close of business on April 27 and sent a draft exclusivity agreement covering such period on April 26.

While much has been made about five bidders for Palm, it appears to be a two-horse race between HP and Company C, which could logically be Lenovo and Dell or a few others. When HP matched, Company C declined to go higher, but Palm notes the bidder proposed “an alternative transaction under which it would acquire certain patents and take a nonexclusive license to Palm WebOS in exchange for a one-time cash payment of $800 million.”

The big question revolves around the identity of Company C. Obviously, Company C felt it needed a mobile operating system badly. HP also decided it needed the WebOS too…

Palm couldn’t come with the marketing smarts to rebuild lost opportunities.

HP thinks the WebOS is worthy – and they can make it profitable, a significant addition to their portfolio. But, who was Company C?

A month after the rumors first started flying, Apple finally confirmed that it has indeed purchased Intrinsity, a Texas-based chipmaker.

Apple confirmed the acquisition on Tuesday to The New York Times, though it did not disclose the purchase price or what Apple’s plans for Intrinsity are. One guess has the value at $121 million.

It’s the second chipmaker purchased by Apple in two years starting with P.A. Semi, which it bought for $278 million. It’s also the fourth acquisition Apple has made since last fall; it bought map API maker PlaceBase in October, social music site LaLa in December, and mobile ad company Quattro Wireless in January for $275 million.

Though it appears like Apple is on a bit of a shopping spree right now, the company has the funds to back it up. At the end of its second fiscal quarter of 2010, Apple reported it had accumulated $41.7 billion in cash. Though Steve Jobs told investors at the annual company meeting that he had no plans to use that to offer a dividend to shareholders, he did hint what he’d rather do instead.

“You never know what opportunity is around the corner,” Jobs said at the February meeting. “We’re very fortunate that if we needed to acquire something we could write a check for it and not have to borrow money.”

American-owned company doing most of its manufacturing offshore – making a lot of money for Apple investors who are often liable to be Americans. Intrinsity provides tools, technology and design expertise to the chip industry. Based in Austin, Texas – which ain’t Republican Texas country.

Not the purest example of what can be achieved in the 21st Century economy; but, certainly more productive than the buggywhips preferred as central to a growing economy by politicians who still haven’t figured out Maynard Keynes or Franklin Roosevelt.

Looking forward to this lovely chocolate being stuffed with Velveeta?

Cadbury, the world’s second biggest confectionery company, has agreed to a takeover worth $19.5bn from Kraft, the US food conglomerate, the two companies have said.

Kraft announced its improved bid for the British firm on Tuesday, after Cadbury’s management repeatedly dismissed an earlier $17.1bn offer as “derisory”…

Kraft expects that swallowing the iconic British confectioner will create the world’s leading chocolate and sweets company, with annual sales totalling more than $100m.

Irene Rosenfeld, the chief executive officer of Kraft, said on Tuesday that the deal represented “a compelling opportunity for Cadbury shareholders”…

We all know that’s so much more important than product standards.

Kraft still has to persuade a majority of Cadbury shareholders to accept the deal, and the door remains open until Saturday for The Hershey Company, a US confectioner which has also expressed an interest in the company, to jump in with a rival bid…

Globalization may not be avoidable. Maintaining a corporation’s history of attainment, product and achievement should still stand for something.

But, then, who gets to make these decision other than major investors and hedge funds?

The Obama administration has vowed to end years of cost overruns and schedule delays in U.S. weapons programs, calling acquisition reform one of the Pentagon’s highest priorities.

The fiscal 2010 budget overview released on Thursday called for a 4 percent increase in the Pentagon’s base budget to $533.7 billion, to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps, improve medical services for wounded troops, and reform the way the Department of Defense buys weapons.

The plan did not include any details about specific weapons programs that may be targeted for cancellation or cutbacks, although President Barack Obama this week said he would end Cold War programs that are not being used.

The most useless Cold War program in use – is stationing American troops all over the globe. Our own portable Maginot Line of defense against a mythical enemy that’s supposed to come marching around the corner in direct confrontation. Absolutely unnecessary. Expensive? You betcha.

“The administration is committed to reforming the defense acquisition process so that taxpayer dollars are not wasted,” the budget outline said. “When it comes to the defense of our nation, it’s critical that every dollar is spent in the most effective way possible…”

The Pentagon’s “95 largest acquisition programs are an average of two years behind schedule and have exceeded their original budgets by a combined total of almost $300 billion,” Senator Carl Levin, the Democrat who heads the committee said.

“We simply cannot afford this kind of continued waste and inefficiency.”

And bring the troops home. Now.