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Archive for the ‘Business models’ Category

Article from SFGate.

“Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman announced Thursday that the company has decided not to spin or sell off its PC division, another repudiation of a controversial plan proposed in August by her ousted predecessor, Léo Apotheker.

Whitman said an internal review showed it would be more costly to sell or spin off the unit, called the Personal Services Group, than to keep it within the Palo Alto company.

“HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG,” Whitman said in a statement. “It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees. HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”

The plan to spin off or sell the division was one of the major factors that led HP’s board of directors to dump Apotheker in September and hire Whitman. The PC unit is HP’s least profitable, but accounts for about one-third of the company’s revenue.

In a news release issued minutes after the close of trading on Wall Street Thursday, HP noted the unit generated $40.7 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2010.

HP said the internal review “revealed the depth of the integration that has occurred across key operations such as supply chain, IT and procurement. It also detailed the significant extent to which PSG contributes to HP’s solutions portfolio and overall brand value. Finally, it also showed that the cost to recreate these in a stand alone company outweighed any benefits of separation.”

When she took the helm, Whitman said her appointment wasn’t a signal that HP was shifting its strategy away from the course set by Apotheker.

But at an economic conference earlier this month in San Francisco, Whitman was asked whether HP would continue Apotheker’s software expansion strategy following the company’s $10.3 billion purchase of British software maker Autonomy Corp.

“It’s certainly the end of big acquisitions,” Whitman said.

Stock in HP closed at $26.99 per share, up $1.24, on the New York Stock Exchange.”

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Update to the Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc. -wire transfer information

Further to Gerbsman Partners e-mail of October 15, 2011 and October 2, 2011 regarding the sale of certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc., I attach the draft legal documents and wire transfer information that we will be requesting of bidders for certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc.  All parties bidding on the assets are encouraged, to the greatest extent possible, to conform the terms of their bids to the terms and form of the attached agreement.  Any and all of the assets of Alure Medical, Inc. will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.  I would also encourage all interested parties to have their counsel speak with James Huie Esq., counsel to Alure Medical, Inc.

For additional information please contact James Huie, Esq., of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati counsel to Alure Medical, Inc.  He can be reached at 650 565 3981  and/or at    jhuie@wsgr.com

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Alure Medical Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that the bid is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Alure Medical’s office, located at 3637 Westwind Boulevard, Suite B, Santa Rosa, California 95403.  Please also email – steve@gerbsmanpartners.com – with any bid.

Interested parties who wish to participate in the Bidding Process must also wire transfer a $ 200,000 refundable deposit to Wilson, Sonsini’s trust account- see attached.

For your convenience, I have restated the description of the Updated Bidding Process.

The key dates and terms include:

The Bidding Process for Interested Buyers
Interested and qualified parties will be expected to sign a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (attached hereto as Appendix A) to have access to key members of management and intellectual capital teams and the due diligence “war room” documentation (“Due Diligence Access”), and the Alure Video. Each interested party, as a consequence of the Due Diligence Access granted to it, shall be deemed to acknowledge and represent (i) that it is bound by the bidding procedures described herein; (ii) that it has had an opportunity to inspect and examine the Alure Medical Assets and to review all pertinent documents and information with respect thereto; (iii) that it is not relying upon any written or oral statements, representations, or warranties of Gerbsman Partners, or their respective staff, agents, or attorneys; and (iv) all such documents and reports have been provided solely for the convenience of the interested party, and Gerbsman Partners (and their respective staff, agents, or attorneys) do not make any representations as to the accuracy orcompleteness of the same.

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Alure Medical Assets. Each sealed bid must be submitted so that it is received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00pm Pacific Daylight Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Alure Medical’s office, located at 3637 Westwind Boulevard, Suite B, Santa Rosa, California 95403. Please also email steve@gerbsmanpartners.com with any bid.

Bids should identify those assets being tendered for in a specific and identifiable way. In particular, please identify separately certain equipment or other fixed assets.

Any person or other entity making a bid must be prepared to provide independent confirmation that they possess the financial resources to complete the purchase.  All bids must be accompanied by a refundable deposit in the amount of$200,000 (payable to Alure Medical, Inc.).  The deposit should be wired to Alure Medical’s attorneys Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.  The winning bidder will be notified within 3 business days of the Bid Deadline. The deposit will be held in trust by Alure Medical’s counsel.  Unsuccessful bidders will have their deposit returned to them within 3 business days of notification that they are an unsuccessful bidder.

Alure Medical reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any bid, or withdraw any or all assets from sale.  Interested parties should understand that it is expected that the highest and best bid submitted will be chosen as the winning bidder and bidders may not have the opportunity to improve their bids after submission.

Alure Medical will require the successful bidder to close within a 7 day period. Any or all of the assets of Alure Medical will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, with no representation or warranties whatsoever.

All sales, transfer, and recording taxes, stamp taxes, or similar taxes, if any, relating to the sale of the Alure Medical Assets shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder and shall be paid to Alure Medical at the closing of each transaction.

For additional information, please see below and/or contact:

Steven R. Gerbsman
(415) 456-0628
steve@gerbsmanpartners.com

Kenneth Hardesty
(408) 591-7528
ken@gerbsmanpartners.com

James Skelton
(949) 466-7303
Jim@gerbsmanpartnes.com

James Huie, Esq.
(650) 565-3981
Jhuie@wsgr.com

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Article from GigaOm.

It’s no secret that the larger economy has hit a rough patch in recent months. Although Silicon Valley has — in general – fared better than many other parts of the world, the venture capital industry is not immune to the negative effects of the macro-economic slowdown.

In the third quarter of 2011, venture capital investment activity fell 12 percent in terms of dollars and 14 percent in terms of deals compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest edition of the MoneyTree Report assembled by accounting giant Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).VCs invested $6.9 billion in 876 deals during the July through September timeframe in 2011, the MoneyTree report says, a notable decline from the $7.9 billion invested in 1,015 deals during the second quarter of 2011.


To be fair, the industry is still up compared to last year. For the first three quarters of 2011, VCs invested $21.2 billion, which is 20 percent more than VCs invested in the first three quarters of 2010. And 2010 saw an even bigger drop between the second and third quarters of the year. But VC funding is not exactly predictable according to the time of year — in 2009, for instance, the third quarter of the year was stronger than the second.

The VC industry is not as predictably cyclical as others because it generally takes its cues from a fluctuating variety of places: the worldwide economy, the entrepreneurial environment, the stock market’s appetite for IPOs, and larger companies’ appetite for acquisitions. It’s a complicated mix, but at the moment, it seems venture capitalists may be nervous about the larger environment of financial unrest, and the IPO window that opened earlier this year seems to be closing.

Seed funding takes a hit

Seed funding — which has recently been the hotshot of the industry as more angel and individual investors have become active in funding the startup scene — took a major hit in the third quarter of 2011. Seed stage investments fell a whopping 56 percent in terms of dollars quarter-over-quarter, and 41 percent year-over-year, to $179 million. It’s not just the total amount of seed investment that’s fallen, it’s also the amount of money per deal: The average seed deal in the third quarter was worth $2 million, a 43 percent drop from the average seed deal in the second quarter of 2011, which was $3.3 million.

And late stage deals have started to see major declines as well. Later stage startup investments decreased 20 percent in dollars and 30 percent in deals in the third quarter compared to the second, MoneyTree reported. Middle, or expansion, stage deals were relatively robust: Expansion stage dollars increased two percent quarter-over-quarter and 43 percent year-over-year, with $2.5 billion going into 260 deals.

Software is still strong

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The software space has held up fairly well, receiving the highest level of funding for all industries during the third quarter with $2 billion invested from venture capitalists. That’s a 23-percent increase in dollars from the second quarter, and according to MoneyTree, the highest quarterly investment in the sector in nearly a decade, since the fourth quarter of 2001.

The web industry had a relatively soft quarter, as investments in Internet-specific companies fell 33 percent quarter-over-quarter during the third quarter to $1.6 billion. But it’s not exactly time to cry for Internet startups; the third quarter had a very tough act to follow, because Internet-specific VC deals hit a 10-year high in the second quarter of 2011.

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Update to the Bidding Process – Procedures for the sale of certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc.

Further to Gerbsman Partners e-mail of October 2, 2008 regarding the sale of certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc., I attach the draft legal documents that we will be requesting of bidders for certain assets of Alure Medical, Inc.  All parties bidding on the assets are encouraged, to the greatest extent possible, to conform the terms of their bids to the terms and form of the attached agreement.  Any and all of the assets of Alure Medical, Inc. will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis.  I would also encourage all interested parties to have their counsel speak with James Huie Esq., counsel to Alure Medical, Inc.

For additional information please contact James Huie, Esq., of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati counsel to Alure Medical, Inc.  He can be reached at 650 565 3981  and/or at    jhuie@wsgr.com

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Alure Medical Assets. Sealed bids must be submitted so that the bid is actually received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Alure Medical’s office, located at 3637 Westwind Boulevard, Suite B, Santa Rosa, California 95403.  Please also email – steve@gerbsmanpartners.com – with any bid.

For your convenience, I have restated the description of the Updated Bidding Process.

The key dates and terms include:

The Bidding Process for Interested Buyers

Interested and qualified parties will be expected to sign a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (attached hereto as Appendix A) to have access to key members of management and intellectual capital teams and the due diligence “war room” documentation (“Due Diligence Access”), and the Alure Video. Each interested party, as a consequence of the Due Diligence Access granted to it, shall be deemed to acknowledge and represent (i) that it is bound by the bidding procedures described herein; (ii) that it has had an opportunity to inspect and examine the Alure Medical Assets and to review all pertinent documents and information with respect thereto; (iii) that it is not relying upon any written or oral statements, representations, or warranties of Gerbsman Partners, or their respective staff, agents, or attorneys; and (iv) all such documents and reports have been provided solely for the convenience of the interested party, and Gerbsman Partners (and their respective staff, agents, or attorneys) do not make any representations as to the accuracy orcompleteness of the same.

Following an initial round of due diligence, interested parties will be invited to participate with a sealed bid, for the acquisition of the Alure Medical Assets. Each sealed bid must be submitted so that it is received by Gerbsman Partners no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 2:00pm Pacific Daylight Time (the “Bid Deadline”) at Alure Medical’s office, located at 3637 Westwind Boulevard, Suite B, Santa Rosa, California 95403. Please also email steve@gerbsmanpartners.com with any bid.

Bids should identify those assets being tendered for in a specific and identifiable way. In particular, please identify separately certain equipment or other fixed assets.

Any person or other entity making a bid must be prepared to provide independent confirmation that they possess the financial resources to complete the purchase.  All bids must be accompanied by a refundable deposit in the amount of$200,000 (payable to Alure Medical, Inc.).  The deposit should be wired to Alure Medical’s attorneys Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.  The winning bidder will be notified within 3 business days of the Bid Deadline. The deposit will be held in trust by Alure Medical’s counsel.  Unsuccessful bidders will have their deposit returned to them within 3 business days of notification that they are an unsuccessful bidder.

Alure Medical reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, accept or reject any bid, or withdraw any or all assets from sale.  Interested parties should understand that it is expected that the highest and best bid submitted will be chosen as the winning bidder and bidders may not have the opportunity to improve their bids after submission.

Alure Medical will require the successful bidder to close within a 7 day period. Any or all of the assets of Alure Medical will be sold on an “as is, where is” basis, with no representation or warranties whatsoever.

All sales, transfer, and recording taxes, stamp taxes, or similar taxes, if any, relating to the sale of the Alure Medical Assets shall be the sole responsibility of the successful bidder and shall be paid to Alure Medical at the closing of each transaction.

For additional information, please see below and/or contact:

Steven R. Gerbsman
(415) 456-0628
steve@gerbsmanpartners.com

Kenneth Hardesty
(408) 591-7528
ken@gerbsmanpartners.com

James Skelton
(949) 466-7303
Jim@gerbsmanpartnes.com

James Huie, Esq.
(650) 565-3981
Jhuie@wsgr.com

Read Full Post »

Article from SFGate.

“Google reported sales that beat estimates Thursday as businesses spent more on advertising to online consumers.

Third-quarter sales, excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, rose to $7.51 billion, Google said on its website. That topped the $7.23 billion average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Net income climbed 26 percent to $2.73 billion ($8.33 per share) from $2.17 billion ($6.72) a year earlier.

Google, despite concerns about the economy, is benefiting from growing demand for online advertising, including search-based marketing that makes up most of its sales. Search-based advertising should reach $37.7 billion this year globally, up 23 percent, while total Internet ad spending should climb 20 percent, according to media researcher MagnaGlobal.

“Search is good,” said Kerry Rice, an analyst at Needham & Co. in San Francisco who rates the stock a buy and doesn’t own shares. “Paid search is still the biggest component of online advertising, and Google’s obviously going to win the vast majority of that dollar.”

Google rose 1.9 percent to close at $558.99 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have dropped 5.9 percent this year.

Third-quarter profit, excluding some items, was $9.72 a share, exceeding the $8.76 average of analysts’ estimates.

Even with more competition from Microsoft, Google picked up market share in the United States, according to Efficient Frontier Inc., which helps companies promote products online. Google had 82 percent of spending on search advertising in the third quarter, up from 81 percent in the two previous quarters.

Microsoft, which provides search and ad services for Yahoo’s U.S. websites under a new agreement, had 18 percent, down from 19 percent in the previous two quarters, according to Efficient Frontier.”

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