Acquisition
Air Canada-Led Group Seeks to Buy Aeroplan for $2.25 Billion
An Air Canada-led group has unveiled their bid to buy back Aeroplan in a deal set to be valued at $2.25 billion. The group includes TD Bank, CIBC, and Visa Canada, which all have long-standing relationships with Aeroplan's parent company Aimia. Under the current proposal, the group would acquire Aimia's loyalty business which includes about...
Photo-Sharing Service Flickr Has Been Acquired By SmugMug
According to a new report from USA Today, photo-sharing pioneer Flickr has been acquired by photo hosting service SmugMug for an undisclosed value. The fate of Flickr has been up in the air for quite some time now. Flickr was acquired by Yahoo in 2005 for $35 million, however, the company never really seemed to...
Toronto-Based 500px Acquired by VCG, the Getty Images of China
Toronto-based photography marketplace 500px has been acquired by the Visual China Group (VCG), which can be seen as the Getty Images of China. Chinese financial data provider JRJ said that the acquisition was for a total of $17 million USD. VCG led 500px's Series B funding round in 2015, where they raised a total of $13...
Fandango Acquires Rival Online Ticketing Service MovieTickets.com
Fandango announced that it has signed a deal to acquire online rival MovieTickets.com for an undisclosed amount, adding to its dominance in the U.S. market and getting access to more film fans overseas. The move continues the expansion of Fandango, which last year acquired movie-review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com and film-buff site Flixster from Warner Bros. The...
Facebook Fined $122 Million By EU Regulators Over WhatsApp Deal
The European Union has fined Facebook $122 million for providing regulators misleading information during a 2014 review of its WhatsApp acquisition. The misleading information raised concerns about the data sharing between the two services. The EU Commission will not undo the acquisition because "the incorrect or misleading information provided by Facebook did not have an impact...
Apple Acquires Powerful Automation App Workflow, Makes it Available for Free
On Wednesday, Apple finalized a deal to acquire popular automation app Workflow and it's three-member development team for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch notes that as a part of the acquisition, Workflow's team of Ari Weinstein, Conrad Kramer, and Nick Frey are headed to Apple to work on unspecified projects. In a statement, Weinstein said: "We are thrilled...
Shaw Pushes Ahead With its Wireless Ambitions After ‘Transformative’ Acquisition
According to a new report from the Calgary Sun, Shaw Communications is continuing to push forward with its wireless ambitions in 2017. The company called the acquisition of Wind Mobile "transformative". Shaw Communications acquired Wind Mobile for $1.6 billion in 2016 and rebranded it as Freedom Mobile. The Calgary-based company is looking to move away...
Just Eat Buys Canada’s SkipTheDishes and UK’s Hungryhouse
According to a report by VentureBeat, London-based food delivery company Just Eat has acquired Canada’s SkipTheDishes and UK’s Hungryhouse for around $383 million. Just Eat, which announced its $2.45 billion IPO back in 2014, now operates in more than 15 markets across Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. The company has been investing significantly in its R&D, and has pledged to spend $60 million...
Samsung Acquires Viv, an AI Startup Founded by the Creators of Siri
On Wednesday, Samsung announced the acquisition of Viv, an artificial intelligence startup that was created by Siri co-founders and former Apple employees Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Viv will operate as a separate entity from Samsung but it must provide services to the Korean tech...
Headphone Maker Skullcandy Acquired by Incipio for $177 Million
Today, Incipio announced that it has agreed to acquire audio and gaming product company Skullcandy for $177 million. The announcement immediately set Skullcandy's share price by 22 percent. Incipio will pay $5.75 per share of the headphone maker, which is a 27 percent premium over Skullcandy's stock price at the market close yesterday. The purchase...
Social Network Path Acquired By Creators of Messaging App KakaoTalk
On Thursday, Path announced that it has been acquired by Daum Kakao, the makers of the popular KakaoTalk messaging app. The acquisition costs have not been disclosed. “We have reached a tipping point on our journey and for Path to truly grow we need more resources and a larger local team that deeply understands Southeast...
Kik Interactive Exploring Strategic Partnerships and Possible Buyout Offers
Kik Interactive was founded six years ago in Waterloo by Ted Livingston, who started the company while studying at the University of Waterloo. Messaging app Kik was created by a Canadian team of developers and has proven to be popular among teens. According to a new report from Bloomberg Business, Kik Interactive is looking to...