Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Microsoft May Back Dell Buyout


The effort to take Dell private has gained a prominent, if unusual, backer: Microsoft.

The software giant is in talks to help finance a takeover bid for Dell that would exceed $20 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. Microsoft is expected to contribute up to several billion dollars.

An investment by Microsoft — if it comes to pass — could be enough to push a leveraged buyout of the struggling computer maker over the goal line. Silver Lake, the private equity firm spearheading the takeover talks, has been seeking a deep-pocketed investor to join the effort. And Microsoft, which has not yet made a commitment, has more than $66 billion in cash on hand.
Microsoft and Silver Lake, a prominent investor in technology companies, are no strangers. The private equity firm was part of a consortium that sold Skype, the online video-chatting pioneer, to Microsoft for $8.5 billion nearly two years ago. And the two companies had discussed teaming up to make an investment in Yahoo in late 2011, before Yahoo decided against selling a minority stake in itself.

A vibrant Dell is an important part of Microsoft’s plans to make Windows more relevant for the tablet era, when more and more devices come with touch screens. Dell has been one of the most visible supporters of Windows 8 in its products.

That has been crucial at a time when Microsoft’s relationships with many PC makers have grown strained because of the company’s move into making computer hardware with its Surface family of tablets.

Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft, declined to comment.

If completed, a buyout of Dell would be the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis, reaching levels unseen since the takeovers of Hilton Hotels and the Texas energy giant TXU. Such a deal is taking advantage of Dell’s still-low stock price and the abundance of investors willing to buy up the debt issued as part of a transaction to take the company private. And Silver Lake has been working with Dell’s founder, Michael S. Dell, who is expected to contribute his nearly 16 percent stake in the company to a takeover bid.

Yet while many aspects of the potential deal have fallen into place, including a potential price of up to around $14 a share, talks between Dell and its potential buyers may still fall apart.

Shares of Dell closed up 2.2 percent on Tuesday, at $13.12. They began rising after CNBC reported Microsoft’s potential involvement in a leveraged buyout. Microsoft shares slipped 0.4 percent, to $27.15.


Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Dell’s founder, Michael S. Dell, attended the unveiling of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system last year in New York.
Microsoft’s lending a hand to Dell could make sense at a time when the PC industry is facing some of the biggest challenges in its history. Dell is one of Microsoft’s most significant, longest-lasting partners in the PC business and among the most committed to creating machines that run Windows, the operating system that is the foundation of much of Microsoft’s profits.

But PC sales were in a slump for most of last year, as consumers diverted their spending to other types of devices like tablets and smartphones. Dell, the third-biggest maker of PCs in the world, recorded a 21 percent decline in shipments of PCs during the fourth quarter of last year from the same period in 2011, according to IDC.

In a joint interview in November, Mr. Dell and Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, exchanged friendly banter, as one would expect of two men who have been in business together for decades.

Mr. Dell said Mr. Ballmer had gone out of his way to reassure him that Microsoft’s Surface computers would not hurt Dell sales.

“We’ve never sold all the PCs in the world,” said Mr. Dell, sitting in a New York hotel room brimming with new Windows 8 computers made by his company. “As I’ve understood Steve’s plans here, if Surface helps Windows 8 succeed, that’s going to be good for Windows, good for Dell and good for our customers. We’re just fine with all that.”

Microsoft has been willing to open its purse strings in the past to help close partners. Last April, Microsoft committed to invest more than $600 million in Barnes & Noble’s electronic books subsidiary, in a deal that ensures a source of electronic books for Windows devices. Microsoft also agreed in 2011 to provide the Finnish cellphone maker Nokia billions of dollars’ worth of various forms of support, including marketing and research and development assistance, in exchange for Nokia’s adopting Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

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Thursday, 8 March 2012

Rahul Dravid expected to formally announce his retirement on Friday...











BANGALORE: For Rahul Dravid fans, the colour would have gone out of their lives on the day of Holi once they heard that he would not don the Indian team whites ever again. 

The official announcement is slated for Friday afternoon when Dravid is to address the media along with BCCI president N Srinivasan but the decision to retire from Test cricket (he had retired from the shorter versions of the game earlier) has already been taken by the man after consultation with family and friends. With this the curtain goes down on a glittering 15-year-long international career. 

Questions galore arise on the timing, naturally at that, as the man had after all failed in a mere four Tests on the disastrous Australian tour, prior to which he was the toast of the Indian team on their tour of England even as the rest of the side burned. Was he under external pressure, say from the BCCI which in the past has ingloriously pushed out many stalwarts, did the push come from within the team itself, or was it a combination of both or altogether something else? 

The simple answer is none of the above. Dravid is the sort who believes in leaving when there are more people asking why as opposed to why not. Remember he gave up the Indian Test captaincy when no was asking for his head and just after he had led the side to a series win in England. Also, like with the captaincy, the call hasn't been made in haste in the middle of a series, there was a lot of deliberation, with the clincher being that with the Indian team having finished with the tours of the big three nations - South Africa, England and Australia - the extra challenge that the man thrives on, would have been missing for a while. 

Now, Dravid couldn't really care if his runs came against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, he has always been hungry for more, but at 39, the plate was always half-full rather than half-empty and that is the basis of his decision. With the call having been made, Dravid is at peace and now, most ironically, he can concentrate on the upcoming IPL, normally the least of his priorities. Surely he would have expected a lot of his IPL press conferences to centre around his Test future and in one timely stroke, he has dealt with it. 

Dravid may be at peace but Indian cricket surely will take some time to recover from this body blow. Things will move on but it will not be the same without the calming, assured presence of Dravid walking out at the fall of the first Indian wicket. The gentle raising of the bat, the shoulders stretched wide in celebration on reaching yet another landmark, all following his literally sweating bucketfuls, will no longer be on view. 

Oppositions the world over will rejoice, bowlers will jump with joy in the knowledge that they will not have to work so hard to get a single wicket. Batsmen who had got used to their nicks being gobbled up at slip by the man with the safest pair of hands will sigh in relief, but to a man they will also agree that the game itself will be poorer for his absence. Dravid, indeed, was a great ambassador of the game, a perfect role model for the gentleman's game. Surely, there is something bigger waiting for him. Perhaps Mr Srinivasan will throw some light on that on the morrow. For now though, it's time to say goodbye and good luck to a true legend. Thank you Rahul for all the wonderful memories.

Katrina is fed up of Ranbir..........


Katrina Kaif might be the ‘sexiest woman alive’ according to a lot of internationally conducted polls and hence the object of desire for many males across the world, but it seems one man does not want her in his life. And that one man is heart-throb Ranbir Kapoor. Reportedly, Katrina is so fed of Ranbir Kapoor that she does not want to act with him in a movie anymore.

It should be put to light that Katrina and Ranbir have been having a very torrid affair, and their now on-now off relationship has been the talk of the town. The actors were alleged to be seeing each other when they were shooting for Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’ in 2009. Resultantly, Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor had a fall-out at that time which was relatively public. Ranbir is known to be quite a casanova by nature and this has always cribbed the women in his life time and again. Same is the case with Katrina. Reportedly, a friend of Katrina’s has claimed that Katrina is fed up of Ranbir’s wandering ways and does not want to do anything with him in the future. And this was the exact reason why she opted out of Ayan Mukherji’s film which had Ranbir in the lead.

Reports had also come a while back which stated that Katrina had asked her mother to find a groom for her to settle down. Katrina definitely seems to be spewing fire due to Ranbir’s plaboy ways. We wish her a faithful future husband, and we desperately wait for his identity

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Katrina Kaif gets a crore for walking the ramp











Katrina Kaif, one of the most sought after actresses in Bollywood, has reportedly been offered Rs 1 crore for making a 10-minute appearance in Kochi.

The 27-year-old will walk the ramp at an upcoming fashion event, on March 25 and take home the hefty amount.

Awesome : Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif


Tuesday, 6 March 2012

Katrina to walk the highway

Katrina Kaif may sashay down the runway at a fashion event in the south.

The upcoming fashion event will happen in Kochi, and the actress is expected to be the showstopper for a designer. At the max, Kats will be on stage for around ten minutes. Guess how much the actress is charging the organizers?? Well, its a whooping sum of Rs. 1 crore.

Well, the actress is most sought-after at the fashion dos, as she she inevitably grabs the eyeballs whenever she goes.

If buzz is to be believed, Katrina Kaif who is presently in London will fly back to India to take part in the fashion show in Kochi on March 25.