Mergers and acquisitions - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Westpac's write-down before day of the dragon

  Westpac Banking Corporation has written down $157 million of software
  assets as it prepares its computing and communications platforms for

• Inside the war rooms of today's networked enterprises

  Sam Riley is not a technology whiz, but he has an eye for a business opportunity. Andrew Slavin is a technology whiz, but has no interest in running his own business. It was a mismatch made in heaven, and the result was the formation of Ansarada, a company that provides virtual online data rooms.
  Virtual data rooms are based on secure technology that enables parties from anywhere in the world to exchange sensitive information online.

• Westpac takes new tech tack

  Westpac Banking Corporation has engineered a dramatic shake-up of its computing and communications division as it prepares for major information technology projects, including a potential high-risk integration with St George Bank and the replacement of its core transactional systems.
  The bank has dumped its business technology solutions and services unit in favour of a standalone technology department and a new products and operations group that will assume the non-technology functions of BTSS.

• Local synergies hard to gauge in the Microsoft and Yahoo deal

  Microsoft's hostile offer for lagging internet portal Yahoo! has significant implications for the local internet landscape.
  In Australia, Microsoft's online arm is represented by ninemsn, a 10-year-old 50-50 joint venture with former Packer group PBL Media. Ninemsn is the No. 1 internet destination in Australia, helped by its use of the HotMail brand webmail service, which lands people automatically at ninemsn when they log into or out of the mail service.