IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 9 April
09-04-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
EMC to buy Iomega for USD213m | Nokia to compensate German staff for factory closure
The Irish Times says that mobile data services provider Zamano is planning to double revenues this year to more than EUR50 million. Read the details of Zamano's results for 2007 as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The paper also reports on a new EUR100,000 scholarship programme for Irish students who wish to pursue space-related studies. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper says that Dublin- and London-listed Getmobile grew sales by 58.5 percent to EUR100.8 million last year, according to preliminary results. The firm, which sells mobile phone contracts in the German market, turned a EUR53.9 million loss in 2006 into a EUR2.7 million pre-tax profit last year. At the end of the year Getmobile had net assets of EUR21.5 million and cash balances of EUR5.72 million.
According to the Wall Street Journal, EMC has reached a deal to buy data-storage firm Iomega for USD213 million in cash, scuttling a deal Iomega had made previously with a group of Chinese firms. The two sides agreed to the deal after EMC sweetened its offer to USD3.85 a share. Iomega turned down EMC's original offer of USD3.25 a share in mid-March, saying it wasn't enough to overturn a takeover agreement with a consortium led by ExcelStor Great Wall Technology, which would have given substantial control of the company to the Chinese government.
The paper also notes that Cisco Systems is to buy the remaining 20 percent share it doesn't already own in networking start-up Nuova Systems. The move is part of a plan to increase Cisco's presence in data centres. Cisco paid USD70 million for 80 percent of Nuova two years ago. Cisco said what it pays for the remaining stake would vary according to sales of the start-up's products. Cisco will retain all of Nuova's 200 employees.
According to the Financial Times, mobile handset firm Nokia is to pay EUR200 million to compensate employees in a factory closure that caused a political outcry in Germany. The agreement between the Finnish company and employee representatives at the factory in Bochum, Germany, includes EUR185 million in compensation for 2,300 staff, and EUR15 million for a so-called transfer company designed to find the workers new jobs. Nokia's plan to close the plant, announced in January, sparked trade union protests and threats to boycott Nokia phones.
The paper also says that BT is looking at options to expand further into mobile technology, an area considered by its critics as a strategic weakness, according to Ian Livingston, chief executive-designate of the UK telecoms group. Livingston told the newspaper the company would consider investing in WiMax, a mobile technology capable of providing high-speed, low-cost connections to the internet. Any move by BT into WiMax could solve its weakness of not having a mobile phone business, although some analysts say the company is most likely to use the wireless technology to serve its corporate customers rather than individual consumers.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 