chipguy
15 years ago
What Was It Oracle Wants With Sun, Again?
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090831/what-was-it-oracle-wants-with-sun-again/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker
Sun Microsystems’s (JAVA) last quarterly report as an independent company was about as miserable as earnings reports get. No surprise, then, that the company didn’t bother to issue a press release or hold a conference call with analysts to discuss them. For its fourth quarter, Sun posted a loss of $147 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a profit of $88 million or 11 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Revenue dropped 31 percent to $2.63 billion. Excluding special items, the company said its quarterly loss was 3 cents a share.
Sun's full FY Q4 results can be seen here:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/709519/000119312509183969/dex992.htm
GuruTrader
15 years ago
Sun Microsystems Announces Stockholder Approval of Oracle Merger Agreement
Press Release
Source: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
On Thursday July 16, 2009, 1:22 pm EDT
Buzz up! 0 Print
Companies:Sun microsystems inc.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA - News) announced that at a special meeting of stockholders held on July 16, 2009, its stockholders adopted the merger agreement entered into with Oracle Corporation, under which Oracle will acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash. Approximately 62% of the shares of Sun common stock outstanding as of the record date for the meeting voted to adopt the agreement.
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JAVA 9.17 -0.04
{"s" : "java","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. For more information regarding the proposed transaction, please visit www.sun.com/oracle.
About Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA - News) develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network is the Computer" -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://www.sun.com.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo and the Network is the Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Contact:
Sun Microsystems, Inc.Investor Contact:Ron Pasek, 650-786-8008ron.pasek@sun.comPress Contact:Dana Lengkeek, 650-786-4017dana.lengkeek@sun.com
chipguy
15 years ago
Sun Microsystems: Ye Gads, That Was An Ugly Quarter
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2009/07/14/sun-microsystems-ye-gads-that-was-an-ugly-quarter/
Hey, Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison! Are you totally sure you want to buy Sun Microsystems (JAVA)?
Sun today pre-announced extremely ugly results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30. The company said revenue for the quarter will range from $2.58 billion to $2.68 billion, about flat with the $2.614 billion reported in the March quarter, well below last year’s $3.78 billion, and short of the Street at $3.03 billion. Sun said it sees a non-GAAP EPS loss of 6-16 cents, which is far worse than the penny-a-share loss the Street had expected.
So, why was the quarter so bad? Sun isn’t giving any detail, and there isn’t going to be a conference call, given Sun’s pending acquisition by Oracle. But there are a few obvious possibilities:
Sun’s salespeople have been distracted by the deal.
Sun’s customers aren’t keen on the company being acquired by Oracle.
IT spending isn’t improving as fast the Street had expected.
All of the above.
Let’s hope it is some combination of the first two; otherwise, we could be in for a very ugly earnings period in the tech sector.
chipguy
15 years ago
Rock to join US-V and many others on Sun's boot hill?
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/sun-is-said-to-cancel-big-chip-project/
June 15, 2009, 3:46 pm
Sun Is Said to Cancel Big Chip Project
By Ashlee Vance
Sun Microsystems may have dropped a bit of weight by the time Oracle officially acquires the company. According to two people briefed on Sun’s plans, the company has canceled its Rock chip project, putting an end to one of its biggest revitalization bets.
Sun has been working on the Rock project for more than five years, hoping to create a chip with many cores that would trounce competing server chips from I.B.M. and Intel. The company has talked about Rock in the loftiest of terms and built it up as a game-changing product. In April 2007, Jonathan Schwartz, the chief executive of Sun, bragged about receiving the first test versions of Rock.
But the two people familiar with Sun’s plans say Rock has met with an unceremonious end. The people requested anonymity, as they are not authorized to speak with the press about Sun’s plans.
Michelle Parkinson, a Sun spokeswoman, said the company had no comment.
No comment? If Rock was still alive she should have simply
denied the rumour.
afxm
15 years ago
Oracle, With Virtual Iron Buy, Boosts Data Center Offering
Date : 05/13/2009 @ 3:34PM
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) purchase of a small virtualization company is another signal from the database giant that it wants to be a serious player in the emerging fields of data centers and cloud computing.
On Wednesday, Oracle said it bought Lowell, Mass.-based Virtual Iron Software, Inc., for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition, which had been speculated about for several months, brings Oracle a suite of open-source virtualization tools and virtualization-management software.
The Virtual Iron purchase underscores the increasing importance to Oracle of being able to provide tools and services for data centers - server farms for heavy-duty computing. Though many customers can use this technology to host their data in-house, the move may also suggest Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle is revising an earlier position on "cloud computing," a set of technologies that allow customers to access computing power and data from a computing vendor over the Internet.
In addition to Virtual Iron, Oracle agreed to pay $7.4 billion for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA), a deal that will give it the hardware specialization it needs to construct data centers for its clients.
Oracle declined to comment on the Virtual Iron acquisition. The company's shares, which are up 2.3% this year and outperforming the S&P 500 index, were down 1.4% at $18.12 in recent trading Wednesday, amid a lower overall tech market.
Buying Virtual Iron gives Oracle a key tool to help companies who are either building data farms or hosting their data offsite and accessing it on a pay-per-usage basis. Virtualization is important because it "tricks" computers into believing they have more computing power than they do, increasing the amount of computing power available on existing servers.
NovoMira
16 years ago
A Fool Looks Back
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz
May 2, 2009
It's never fun when you turn on the television to find the word "pandemic" being tossed around like a basketball at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition. Unfortunately, it's real and it's here. It may grow to be a lamentable yet small event in the coming weeks, but some investors are already positioning their portfolios in case the problem intensifies.
Pharmaceutical companies with treatments at stake took off. Airlines and travel portals sold off earlier this week. The "stay at home" stocks that were already faring well in a recession won over new believers. Investors have been jockeying for position -- either in or out of these stocks -- since Monday. Mr. Market has a way of trying to get in ahead of the news. However, all of these moves can go the other way.
Don't chase the herd yet. If anything, you may want to consider checking out some of the beaten-down stocks if things do stabilize sooner rather than later. Whether you're out in public or in the equity markets, my advice is the same: Be careful out there.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week:
Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: JAVA) posted bad quarterly results, including a wider loss on a 20% top-line plunge. I guess we now know why it was busy wooing IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) for a buyout.
It seems as if Bank of America (Nasdaq: BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) will probably need new capital. Bank of America can probably use a new CEO, too. For now, it'll settle for having the CEO lose his chairman spot on the company's board.
China's leading search engine keeps rolling. Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) posted another quarter of market-thumping results. Revenue soared 41%, so maybe it's time to dismiss any worrywart fears of China fading during the global recession.
NovoMira
16 years ago
Slimmer Sun Can Pay for Oracle
HEARD ON THE STREETAPRIL 20, 2009, 3:55 P.M. ET
By MARTIN PEERS
Jerry Yang must be wondering where Larry Ellison was when he needed him.
Sun Microsystems shareholders should be grateful for Oracle's $9.50 a share bid, a price close to what IBM was once expected to pay for Sun. Mr. Ellison has rescued Sun shareholders from the stock-price oblivion suffered by Yahoo since Mr. Yang failed to seal a deal with Microsoft.
The challenge for Mr. Ellison is to ensure the deal -- costing Oracle $5.6 billion, net of cash -- makes as much sense for his own shareholders. That's no slam dunk. Not only has Oracle diversified for the first time into hardware, a lower-margin business than software, but it's acquiring a company whose hardware business is under intense competitive pressure.
Of course, Mr. Ellison is more interested in Sun's software, particularly its Java brand and the Solaris operating system, which he described as "instrumental" in the decision to buy Sun. Oracle's Fusion Middleware is built on top of Java while Solaris is the top operating system for the Oracle database.
Ensuring the two software products don't fall into the hands of an Oracle rival is valuable, although not a benefit that necessarily justifies the price of the deal. Software, after all, is a minority of Sun's business, accounting for only about 7.5% of its products revenue last year. Nearly 40% of Sun's revenue comes from services but much of that is also hardware related.
Cost cutting can make the deal pay. Mr. Ellison predicted Sun would contribute more than $1.5 billion to Oracle's operating profit in its first year. Given Sun's relatively low operating margins, there's no doubt plenty of fat to cut in areas like sales and marketing. Were that Yahoo were so lucky.
NovoMira
16 years ago
Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
Last update: 8:10 a.m. EDT April 20, 2009
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oracle Corp. said Monday if will buy Sun Microsystems Inc. for $7.4 billion in an all-cash deal, or $5.6 billion after including debt.
The $9.50-a-share buyout agreement equates to a 42% premium over Sun's Friday closing price.
Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle (ORCL) said the transaction will contribute to earnings in the first year, adding at least 15 cents a share to its bottom line. It's expected to close this summer, subject to Sun shareholder and certain regulatory approvals.
"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," said Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison, continuing his program of engineering high-profile acquisitions for the database software company.
Sun (JAVA) is a Santa Clara, Calif., network-computing infrastructure company, best known for its Java operating system. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) had reportedly been interested in acquiring Sun before the companies parted ways recently. "Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system -- applications to disk -- where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves," Ellison said in a statement.
Shares of Sun shot up 27% in premarket trading to $8.50, while shares of Oracle slipped 5.3% to $18.05. "We estimate that the acquired business will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle's non-GAAP operating profit in the first year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year," said Safra Catz, Oracle's president, adding: "This would make the Sun acquisition more profitable in per share contribution in the first year than we had planned for the acquisitions of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined."
NovoMira
16 years ago
The Real Story Behind The Setting Sun And IBM
Posted By: Jim Goldman | Silicon Valley Bureau Chief
cnbc.com
| 16 Apr 2009 | 01:43 PM ET
It's no secret that talks between Sun Microsystems and IBM have collapsed; and it's no secret, based on my earlier reporting that Sun has re-approached IBM and that IBM has rebuffed the overture. Again. But what's the real reason behind IBM's decision to walk?
I have heard from a number of sources that deep and intense regulatory scrutiny from both US and European regulators has been the root of the problem. But there is something else. A source tells me that IBM , as a big, big company that has done billions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions over the years, knows its way around the regulatory process, and that while there might be an issue with a deal for Sun , it's certainly not a deal breaker. This source characterized federal scrutiny as a reasonable regulatory issue.
The deeper issue is something IBM discovered during the due diligence process: A series of unusually structured contracts that Sun has with many key partners. Further, there's a "change of control provision" in many key executive contracts that Sun apparently was unwilling to unravel, and that was one of the reasons why IBM walked. I'm told this isn't a "golden parachute" or "poison pill," but simply a provision that forces the buyer to shell out tens of millions of dollars to a small group of Sun executives if the company is acquired. When IBM said it would have to lower the price of its offer to accommodate for that provision, Sun said no.
Sources tell me that Scott McNealy has a strong desire to return to day-to-day control of the company he once ran, that he has visions of becoming a Michael Dell or Steve Jobs ; that current CEO Jonathan Schwartz was told to go out and find the best deal he could, and that by not sealing anything, his job is now at serious risk since McNealy still enjoys the broad support of the board. (That same board, incidentally, replaced McNealy with Schwartz three years ago. Boards can be fickle, I suppose.)
Meantime, what does all this mean for deal potential? This source tells me, don't bother sitting by the phone. With the likelihood that McNealy might come back to run the show, the scenario gets less and less palatable for IBM unless these contracts get restructured, and Sun is willing to sell at $9.40 a share, which I'm told is the price IBM is willing to pay. Neither seems likely, at least today.
Wondering what Yahoo's Jerry Yang is up to and if he wants to schedule a round of golf with McNealy to discuss.
zigzagman
16 years ago
IBM not interested in Sun at any price:
AP-NEW YORK (Reuters) – IBM is no longer interested in buying smaller rival Sun Microsystems Inc at any price, due to concerns that such a deal would draw intense regulatory scrutiny, CNBC reported on Thursday.
Citing sources close to Sun, CNBC said the high-end computer maker had approached International Business Machines Corp earlier this week to ask it to return to the negotiating table, indicating that Sun would be flexible about price.
But IBM has decided it is not interested in any further negotiations with Sun, the cable news network reported, citing sources close to IBM.
IBM's contacts within the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Union have all advised the company that such a merger could be subject to an antitrust review lasting six to nine months, CNBC said.
Sun declined to comment. IBM was not immediately available for comment. IBM had withdrawn a $7 billion offer for Sun earlier this month, after the smaller company rejected the bid as too low, sources with knowledge of the matter have said.
Shares of Sun erased pre-market gains of about 7 percent to trade at $6.18, up less than 1 percent from their previous close on the Nasdaq. IBM shares were up 1.45 percent at $100.28 on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, writing by Tiffany Wu; Editing by Derek Caney)
http://tickermyfeed.com/news.php/MHx8eWFob28=/ibm_not_interested_in_sun_at_any_price_report
Specalculator1
16 years ago
2009 JavaOne Conference Schedule Unveiled
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced the 2009 JavaOne(SM) conference schedule, which includes approximately 330 sessions over the four days of the event. Details on hands-on-labs, Birds-of-a-Feather, and technical sessions are now available at: http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/sessions.jsp. Developers can also subscribe to the JavaOne conference RSS feed at: http://developers.sun.com/rss/javaone.xml to obtain headline news, announcements, and the latest conference information.
Members of the Java community, along with some of the top Java technology experts at Sun, have developed this year's Conference program. Visit: http://java.sun.com/javaone/2009/pdfs/09J1_ACG_Prospect.pdf to download the 2009 JavaOne Advance Conference Guide and get details on more than 200 technical sessions, more than 100 BOFs, as well as information on the Hands-on Labs and the Java University program. Information on attendee registration, is available at: http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/registration.jsp.
Some of the accepted sessions include:
Cloud Computing: Show Me the Money – Jeff Barr, Amazon.com; Jeff Collins, Intuit; Adam Gross, Salesforce.com, Inc.; Simon Guest, Microsoft; Gregor Hohpe, Google, Inc.; Raghavan Srinivas, Intuit; Lew Tucker, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Java in Brazilian Digital TV: Interactivity and Digital Inclusion on TV – Magno Cavalcante, Petrobras; Clayton Chagas, Brazilian Army Research Center
A Music Visualizer with the Java Media Framework API and JavaFX Technology – Lucas Jordan, EffectiveUI
The Modular Java Platform and Project Jigsaw – Mark Reinhold, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Securing Web and Service-Oriented Architectures with Apache Axis, WSS4J, Spring, and OpenLDAP – Shawn McKinney, Fidelity National Information Services
Exploiting Concurrency with Dynamic Languages – Tobias Ivarsson, Neo Technology
Web 2.0 Phone Home: Rapid Development of Telecom-Enabled Web Applications – Gregory Bond and Thomas Smith, AT&T Labs Research
In addition, the Advance Conference Guide contains information on all the companies who are exhibiting in the JavaOne Pavilion. Platinum cosponsor Intel, and cosponsors JBoss and Sony Ericsson, as well as a large and growing number of exhibitors, have already signed on to participate in this year's Pavilion. Companies wishing to exhibit at the 2009 JavaOne conference can get additional information at: http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/how_to_exhibit.jsp.
About 2009 JavaOne Conference
Located at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, June 2 - 5, the JavaOne Conference is the definitive venue to highlight the latest implementations, innovations and success stories in Java technology, scripting languages, Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), cloud computing, open source and more. Attendees can get hands-on experience, network with their peers, and have the opportunity to connect with technology experts and industry leaders.
For more information about the JavaOne conference, visit http://java.sun.com/javaone; view updates on Twitter: http://java.sun.com/javaone/2009/twitter.jspr; visit the JavaOne Facebook fan page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/JavaOne-Conference/48462650317; or download the JavaOne Facebook widget: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=71272477268.
About 2009 CommunityOne West
This year the CommunityOne West conference is taking place in conjunction with the JavaOne conference. CommunityOne offers numerous sessions on free and open-source software (FOSS) technologies and tools. Visit: http://developers.sun.com/events/communityone/2009/west/index.jsp for more information and to register for CommunityOne West.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.
Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, JavaOne and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
NovoMira
16 years ago
Sun board to discuss next steps following collapse of IBM talks
Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 7:35am MDT Denver Business Journal - by Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
Sun Microsystems Inc.'s directors reportedly were to meet Wednesday to talk about what to do now that acquisition talks with International Business Machines Corp. have collapsed. Sun and IBM are two of the Denver area's largest tech employers. Analysts had said a merger of the two might lead to additional layoffs in Colorado, where the two companies are already are cutting staff.
Bloomberg News said it was told of the meeting by a person it said was familiar with the matter but didn't name. Talks unraveled after Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun's (NASDAQ: JAVA) board unanimously rejected a $7 billion offer on Saturday which IBM (NYSE: IBM) then withdrew on Sunday.
Bloomberg said Chairman Scott McNealy led a minority that was opposed to the deal, while CEO Jonathan Schwartz led a group that favored it. Sun stock fell 4.3 percent to close at $6.28 Tuesday after sinking 23 percent in Monday trading.
Sun issued a statement on Tuesday, saying it is “committed to its leadership team, growth strategy and building value for its shareholders." It also announced that its top chip designer, Marc Tremblay, has resigned and will be replaced by co-Chief Technology Officer Rick Hetherington.